


There's a Firefly

by wordsareleftbehind (froggydarren)



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-02
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-27 22:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 51,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/667021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/wordsareleftbehind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>What would be different if you stepped on an ant? Or killed a butterfly? Or a TV show went off air before two people met to work on it together? In an alternate universe, Glee gets cancelled in its first season and Darren never gets cast. He doesn't meet Chris, and they don't become co-stars or friends. Until their careers bring them to the same place one day.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Road Less Traveled

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as my NaNoWriMo novel and is beta'ed/edited by the wonderful [Em](http://totallyawesomecolfer.tumblr.com/) and [Daphne](http://averycrisscolferstory.tumblr.com/) ;)

The drizzling rain was supposed to be uncomfortable, but Chris reveled in it a little, the simple fact that he'd made it as far as Ireland settling under his skin more than the never ending droplets ever could. He'd of course done the American thing of researching his ancestry, visited places his family hailed from like a generic tourist would do, but it wasn't the reason he was currently walking through the alleys in Dublin. It was, however why he'd insisted on flying in early and on his own dime, because it was something he had to do.

But the day he was looking forward to just as much as simply spending time in Ireland was coming up and his fingers were getting itchy at the thought of seeing people who'd want to read his book. Even after the exhausting book tour he'd done in the past few months across the US, he was nearly bouncing with anticipation. There were people in foreign countries who wanted to read the words he’d written. Regardless of said people, most likely being under the age of twelve, the simple thought of someone else, in a country he'd never even been to prior to the current visit, wanting to fall into the same world he'd lived in since he was about eight years old was overwhelming and amazing.

He'd not expected to make it this far, not when the one television show he'd been a part of had never made it past the episodes they shot along with the pilot. Sure, they'd gotten picked up by Fox, but he knew the entire concept had only a small chance of clicking with the audience. Adding to this, his openness about his sexuality, Ryan Murphy's refusal to budge on the storyline with Chris' character's struggle with coming out, meant they stood no chance on the channel they were on. And with the lack of notice after the first few episodes aired, they all counted themselves lucky that Fox left everything they'd already shot and didn't cut them off two episodes in.

They'd all been understandably disappointedand they all had to move on; the cast and the writers. Chris couldn't help but wonder sometimes how his career would've turned out had the show been a success, but even without Glee, he'd done well and couldn't complain. He certainly,despite his near-unstoppable drive, didn't want to imagine trying to write his book while being on the show. Even during the relatively leisurely pace they had shooting the first half of the season, the days had been strenuous and long. The thought of trying to squeeze in his other load of long hours that he'd spent writing was just that little bit terrifying.

The rain started picking up as he turned another corner and he quickly consulted the map on his phone, glad for the random free Wi-Fi he'd picked up from a hotel he was passing and realized he'd have to take shelter somewhere to let the impending downpour pass. He wasn't dressed for hiding out in the fancy hotel he was looking at, but the small pub next to it looked less strict on a dress code, so he rushed in the door and shook the rain out of his messed-up hair.

Music came pouring at him once he opened the door and he felt immediately warmer. Remembering that he was legal in Ireland, he sighed and decided to have a drink as he knew he'd not get much of a chance the next day with the signing and everything else his publicist had planned. As he settled by the bar, taking a glance around in a practiced move of checking for signs of possible trouble that he'd picked up from the years of bullying, his eyes fell on a sign with what looked like a schedule for the week. There was a name he immediately recognized, one he definitely didn't expect to find here of all places.

Darren Criss.

Of course Chris was aware of Darren. How could he not be? The love for all things British that Chris was seemingly born with, that no one in his family could ever explain, came with an immediate love for everything even remotely connected to Harry Potter. So when he'd heard of a musical that was making its rounds online, he had to check it out, since it combined about everything he loved. He immediately added the Starkid musical to the list of things he was obsessed with. He'd gone to some of their shows, even managed to catch a performance of the second part of the musical, thanks to a very generous birthday present. Not that he'd basically begged his family for the plane and show ticket. He had only exchanged it for all other presents they were thinking of getting him.

He'd managed to convince himself it wasn't as extreme as his Mom probably thought it was and definitely not as obsessive as his little sister teasingly told him it was. The show was definitely worth it and he only just stopped himself from trying to sneak in backstage and beg to be able to join Starkid, just so he'd have a shot at maybe one day being in a third part of A Very Potter Musical. Not that they ever admitted to planning another one, though the rumors were circulating the internet like crazy.

Then there was thecurly-haired, hazel-eyed guy who took Chris by surprise with not only his musical and acting talent but everything else as well. Of course he'd seen all the videos Darren had posted, whether they were random gig videos or a Starkid production. But seeing him in person was a whole other ballpark, because Darren had an energy about him that, as Chris found out, didn't entirely transfer across the small grainy YouTube videos.

"What can I get ya?" the bartender walked up, tearing Chris out of his reminiscing.

He asked for a beer, handed over his passport when he was asked for an ID. He chuckled slightly when the bartender's eyes nearly popped out. Chris was used to strange looks and was aware that he sometimes looked about six years younger, especially when he was a walking mess like he was in that moment after being caught in the rain.

"Thanks," he muttered when the beer was in front of him and plucked up a bit of courage, "that board," he waved his hand towards it, "is the music happening here?"

"Yeah," was the reply, "we've this kid on tonight, he's pretty good, thinks himself Irish half the time, can't hold a drink to save his life though."

"Are there tickets I need to buy or anything?"

"Nah, it's just whoever walks in," Chris checked the time again, "you might want to be a bit early to grab a spot, he'd picked up a gaggle of girls who seem to follow him around."

"Thanks for the tip. I just might, I've seen him back home before," Chris smiled at the memory.

"I could also hold you a spot," the bartender offered, "you'd be a nice change from the giggling."

"I'd appreciate that, actually," Chris nodded, "thank you. I'll see if I can talk a friend into showing up, think you could hold two spots?"

"Yeah, that's not a problem," the guy nodded, "I'm Damian, by the way."

"Chris," he reached out for the offered handshake.

Chris finished his beer and pulled his phone out., f Finding a few messages from Alla about the rest of the promotional tour, confirming schedules for the next day. He pulled up the publicist's name in his contacts when he decided it wasn't too noisy for a phone call.

"Hey Alla," he started and immediately heard the semi-frustrated sigh.

"Christopher, where did you wander off to?" she chastised half-heartedly.

"Walking, sightseeing, things," he explained, "are you insanely busy tonight? More to the point, am I?"

"What is it?"

He told her about the gig and while she declined the invitation and insisted on him being driven to and from the pub, Alla gave him the OK to go to the show. Not that Chris was above begging, but he was glad he didn't have to resort to those measures.

"I'll see you later," he waved to Damian and braced himself for the rain that didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping.

On his way back to the hotel he was staying at, which was blessedly close, Chris scrolled through his phone and discovered that in the madness that was his book tour, he completely missed Darren's tweets about playing gigs across Europe. Mild disappointment followed when he saw that unlike Chris, Darren had just moved on from the UK. Once he got to his room, Chris began a whole new round of fretting, this time about the issue of what he was going to wear.

"It's not like it's a date, Christopher," he glared at himself in the mirror after the third outfit he'd tried on.

With that in mind, though, Chris also recalled that the pub wasn't that huge and there was a slight chance that he'd get to actually talk to Darren at some point that evening, if he got over his teenage-like crush. Sure, it wasn't likely to move anywhere from the current status of "unrequited and unlikely to ever be", but he did want to make a good impression; an impression that, if at all possible, wouldn't involve word vomit and embarrassment of epic proportions on Chris' part.

After a quick round of interviews for a few newspapers and magazines, Chris was finally given the go ahead to leave. He thought he'd only be left with minutes to find Damian and to find his place to watch Darren play, but it turned out that he'd actually arrived early.

"Hey man," Damian grinned at him from behind the slowly filling bar, "got let out early for good behavior?"

"Something like that," Chris laughed, "more like I escaped like the ninja that I am."

"Well, want to toast to free evenings and decent entertainment?"

Chris nodded and found a glass with the same beer he'd ordered before appearing in front of him almost immediately. He savored the first few gulps while the nerves started to get the best of him. The imagination that he usually cherished because it definitely helped with the book writing was now torturing him with all possible ways that he could make an idiot out of himself.

To take his mind off the list of worst case scenarios, he fell into a surprisingly easy conversation with Damian. It turned out they had music in common and Damian talked about the group he sang with while Chris explained about his book and marginally mentioned Glee and his former music career aspirations. They commiserated about the lack of opportunities and about the need to lower their hopes for being able to live off a career that involved singing.

"Dude! It's my last night here!"

Chris nearly spilled his drink as the voice rang across the pub, so familiar but yet so different from when he'd heard it the last time. He didn't need to turn around to know that the night's entertainment had just arrived.


	2. Long and Winding Road

There was something about Ireland that he'd always loved. He wasn't sure if it was his Irish heritage that his Dad continued to remind him of, or the musicality of the country that he'd fallen in love with the first time he visited. What he did know, though, was that the "Come on, Darren, play us a song!" was something he'd always be willing to come back to. He was drawn in by the way everyone there would be willing to join in and at least hum along the tunes he'd play, regardless of whether they knew the words or not. If they didn't know the lyrics, then Darren felt that little bit better because his own incapability of remembering words to every song wasn't as painfully obvious as when he forgot his own songs in front of a bunch of fans.

The concept of having _fans_ was still something that completely baffled him, even though the hits on the Starkid videos and people coming to see him play should have made it easier to handle. At the same time, it was a little simpler to play around Europe, like he was doing now, because the expectations were a lot lower. On the other hand, it was that little bit more of a shock to discover that anyone was actually aware of him and of Joey, Meredith and Lauren. He'd always reminded himself that it was because JK Rowling's series originated in the UK and the States did not, try as they might, have the primary claim on the books or the movies.

It would never _not_ catch him off-guard to walk into a place he was due to play and hear that people actually enquired about his show and wanted to see him. To know that there were people even aware of who he was in places like Dublin or wherever he played in the UK. He wasn't a huge star, so it was always a pleasant surprise that he'd managed to reach as far as Europe with what he called "silly little YouTube videos".

"Hey Damo," Darren grinned at the barkeeper, "we ready for tonight?"

"We sure are," Damian smiled, pointing to the board with the schedule of musicians and Darren felt a surge of pride at seeing his name there, "you've had people asking about you again."

"I did?" Darren looked back to the bar, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

There was something different in Damian's tone and Darren's curiosity was piqued, because the usual few girls that had asked before didn't cause that.

"A _boooooy_ ," Damian grinned, "cute one at that."

"Oh?" Darren's eyebrow shot up, "that's… different."

"He said he knew you, too," Damian's smile didn't fade, "that he saw you," he air-quoted, "back home."

"Whoa, that's beyond different," Darren's eyes were wide, "did he say where?"

Damian shook his head and continued on with his work, cleaning and serving the occasional drink while Darren went off to set the tiny stage up. He mulled over the unknown boy who'd asked about the gig tonight. Eventually, he gave up and figured he'd find out from Damian in the evening, ask him to point the boy out. Maybe he'd find someone worth talking to for once.

"I'll see you later," Darren waved to Damian when he was heading out, "gotta pick up some new strings and picks."

"Again?" the chuckle caught up with Darren as he opened the door and he shrugged in response.

Once outside, he pulled his jacket tighter and headed for the music shop he'd discovered the last time he was in Dublin, knowing he'd while the time away there until he had to be at the pub again. As he settled in the corner with his guitar, tuning it and plucking at the newly purchased strings, he let his mind wander to memories brought up by Damian's mention of the boy who'd asked about Darren.

_The videos took of fast, gaining hits and followers on the StarKid account and Darren wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. In his eyes, the whole group was just a bunch of silly kids from UMich with an insanely unhealthy love for Harry Potter, a love for music, a passion for theatre and a crazy idea. The comments section on YouTube never failed to amaze him, nor did the fact that people actually asked how to get to see the second installment of the musical. His own videos and small gigs were building up a follower group and he'd continually gaped in disbelief at the rising number of queries about his performances. He'd picked up a friend or two from the early followers on Twitter, people he'd found easy to talk to and could trust._

_Then the casting call popped up in his alerts and he took about a minute wondering if LA was a place he could see himself in. The description of the TV show wiped all hesitation away. It was bound to be everything he'd wanted, music and acting combined, a little_ High School Musical _style, but his not-so-secret obsession with that made sure it wasn’t an issue. So he called his agent, one that his parents insisted he get the moment he started playing gigs, and practically begged to get an in at the auditions._

_He'd actually been disappointed when it didn't pan out, but also admitted that the role he went for was entirely unsuitable for him. There was no way he'd pull off a football player, not with his lack of height and abundance of crazy hair. But a few weeks later, the audition process continued and since his name was already on file, his agent got a call. Darren tried again, a little more convincingly, including taming his hair somewhat, though he stopped himself short of cutting it, purely because he wouldn't live that down ever._

_And it paid off, he got a callback and an outline for a possible role, but the small print said it would depend on the show's ratings whether they'd continue the casting process. With fingers crossed tight, Darren sat down to watch the Pilot and even though he knew it wouldn't make enough difference, got everyone he knew to tune in for the show the week after. Until the final call came after the fifth episode aired and the ratings weren't picking up. And that was that, Darren's wish to be on the show became a moot point because there was no show to be on._

That was when he agreed to do the second musical, becoming Harry once again, helping with the songs rather than doing it all by himself. With the growing following, he managed to get a few shows, opened for his brother's band a few times as they were also slowly getting there with fans.

"Dude, we have fans," Chuck repeated nearly every time as they both looked out from behind stages into the audience, "like, legitimate, _I'm here for the band_ fans."

"I know," Darren always replied, awed and shocked.

And then the offer of a tour around Europe came for the _Freelance Whales_. Darren was excited for Chuck and the rest of the guys, shouting the news all over Twitter and Facebook and to everyone who'd walked past, bragging about his brother. Then Chuck rolled his eyes at him when Darren nearly fell of the chair after the band casually mentioned that he'd be opening for them on the tour.

"Goof, who else would come with us?" Chuck smiled at his little brother, "like I'd leave you behind when we can do the belated Euro-trip together."

That was how Darren found himself in actual venues, small though they may be, playing to fans of Chuck's band and some of his own, for the past month. They had another two months to go and while his brother took off on a small side trip with his fiancée, Darren used the time for his own detour to Dublin.

The music shop was about to close, and even though the owner would've let Darren stay on even after closing time, the gig time was approaching, so he packed up his purchases and headed to his hostel to get ready. His signature plaid and T-shirt combo on, the very unnecessary sunglasses perched in his mop of curls, Darren eventually headed for the pub with the plan to hang out until it was time to play.

"Dude! It's my last night here!" he yelled from the front door at a laughing Damian.

"So you said earlier today," Damian called back, "I might just have you re-read the contract and finally reveal you've signed your soul away and can't leave, ever."

Darren grinned, not put off by the thought at all, when he saw that the bartender had actually been interrupted from a conversation by Darren's over-enthusiastic shout. The boy looked way too young to be in a pub and definitely not of legal age, though there was a pint of beer on the bar in front of him. As Darren walked closer, he eyed the messy brown hair with curiosity and a little suspicion because it seemed familiar. Then the boy turned and Darren nearly tripped at the sight of the very familiar blue eyes that were looking at him with a mixture of amazement and embarrassment.


	3. Have I Met You Before?

"Well I take it by the looks on your faces that introductions are going to be unnecessary," Damian piped up from behind the bar, laughter ringing through his voice.

Chris blushed, then dipped his eyes down and muttered something unintelligible to himself. When he finally looked back up, he found  Darren standing right in front of him.

"Chris Colfer," Darren breathed, "you're… Chris Colfer."

"I am," Chris' eyes widened in shock, "how do you… you're Harry _Freakin’_ Potter, how do you know who I am? I'm totally obsessed with your musical and _oh my God_ how do you know my name?"

"You are? You know StarKid? I don't believe you," Darren latched on to that part of what Chris said.

"Oh crap," Chris' hand slapped over his mouth, "I'm totally making an idiot out of myself, aren't I? Why do I always do that?" he mumbled from behind his fingers.

"You… wait, you are serious," Darren's hazel eyes were still locked on Chris' face, widened from shock, "no, you're kidding, you can't possibly be serious."

"I am," Chris' face was beet red, "I'd tell you how many times I watched the first one or that I flew out for the second…" he bit his lower lip, " _shut up, Colfer_."

"You did? Wow, that's…"

"Totally awesome," they finished in unison, hearing the immediate reaction of Damian's laugh that caused both of them to turn to him and stare.

Chris turned back a second later and despite the embarrassment he still felt at the way he just word-vomited all over Darren, one question slipped his lips because his curiosity got the best of him.

"Wait," he got Darren's attention again, "how do you know me?"

"I…" it was Darren's turn to blush, though it was barely visible on his skin, "I've auditioned for _Glee_ , twice actually. I mean, the first time I had no idea who you were, of course, that was before the show and I was supposed to go for the football player role and that obviously went nowhere," he rambled, not able to stop himself, "but then I tried again after I saw the Pilot and I saw you and I actually got a callback but then that never happened because the show got pulled and … yeah."

He finally stopped and looked up, his eyelashes fluttering as his eyes met Chris'.

"Wow," Chris breathed out.

"Yeah, sorry, I sort of have a rambling problem," Darren smiled, "there's apparently medication for it, but they won't give it to me and… I'm doing it again, sorry."

"That's…" Chris' voice shook, "that's okay, I just, I didn't think the show really had fans or anything and … wow, you went for Cory's role?"

"Yeah," Darren nodded, chuckling, "it's pretty obvious why I didn't get it."

Chris was hit with a flood of memories of the storyline surrounding his character and _Finn_ , the football player whom Chris' character _Kurt_ had a crush on. This combined with Darren standing right in front of him, the same Darren whom Chris had unashamedly ogled in videos online and on stage that time during _A Very Potter Sequel_ , made his whole face flare up.

"No, that's…" Chris stuttered and didn't quite know what to say without revealing entirely too much about his current thought process.

"Darren," Damian coughed to get their attention, "the usual? You're just that little bit too early."

"Yeah," Darren finally moved from his spot and dropped his guitar against the bar, looking back to Chris, "mind if I keep you company for a while?"

"No, no, of course not," Chris shifted on his stool, happy about the distraction, "I don't mind at all."

"So, tell me about this trip to Michigan," Darren grinned as he climbed on the stool next to Chris and took a sip of his drink.

"Oh god," Chris blushed furiously again, just as his cheeks had begun to regain their normal color, "why did I even open my mouth?"

Soon, they were caught in a conversation peppered with random quotes from the musical that slipped Chris' lips, much to his continued embarrassment. Darren kept chuckling every time he recognized a line, still in disbelief that this boy whom he admired so much was actually one of _his_ fans.

"I hate to break up this budding bromance," Damian came up to them some time later, eyes on his watch, "but Darren, I think you're wanted up there," he pointed to the stage, which was already surrounded by people awaiting the musical part of the evening.

"You'll stay?" Darren turned to Chris with a sheepish look on his face, not entirely above resorting to pleading if Chris decided to leave.

"It is why I came tonight," Chris admitted quietly, "I bet it will beat the YouTube videos."

"You've…" Darren paused from reaching for his guitar, "OK, this conversation is so entirely not over."

Chris' face dropped into his hands as he realized he'd yet again revealed a little more than he originally intended to and then watched Darren weave through people to get to his microphone. While he was setting up and chatting easily with the people in the pub via the sound system, Chris took time to catch his breath a little.

"So… he's something, isn't he?" Damian grinned from his spot on the other side of the bar.

"That he is," Chris whispered, more to himself than to his new friend.

Once the sound check was done, all over again because of Darren's new strings and inability of leaving things alone when it came to his guitar, Chris leaned on the bar and had to fight off the temptation of closing his eyes so he could lose himself in the music. There was some giggling when Darren rattled off his usual warnings about forgetting lyrics and trying to not be boring and then he began with _Not Alone_.

The set lasted a while and in between his own songs and some trusted classics, unsurprisingly coming from the Disney catalogue mostly, Darren threw in some local songs he'd picked up over the space of his visit. Finally, the guitar was put away on a stand and Darren was back on the stool next to Chris, grin firmly planted in his face and his fingers wrapped tight around the glass Damian handed him.

"So, how did it compare to YouTube?" he asked with a glint in his eye.

"A little choppier, what with the forgetting of words and the running commentary," Chris laughed, "whoever put up the videos clearly edited those bits out."

He winked at Darren and thought the pout that his comment caused was beyond adorable. Darren pretended to sulk for a few moments then laughed along with Chris as they tried to figure out which songs from the evening would make it online. Chris pointed to his own phone and the perfect placing that allowed him to film some of the performance for himself. The conversation flowed easily from there as they continued to discuss Darren’s performance.

"So what are you up to tomorrow?" Darren eventually changed the topic and Chris sighed, remembering it was his last day in Dublin.

"I've got a signing," he started, "in one of the bookshops in the centre. Then some interviews and a TV thing."

"Wait, the book is out already?" Darren's eyebrows shot up.

"What? How do you…" Chris looked to him with surprise, "oh never mind, I'm not going to ask how you know."

"It's fairy tales, man, it's basically compulsory reading," Darren smirked.

"How old are you again?" Chris teased, "But to answer your question, it's on sale officially on Tuesday, but they'll be selling copies at the signing, obviously."

Darren hummed to himself and looked like he was deep in planning mode for a while, casually throwing out questions to get more details about Chris' press tour plans for the following day. When he got called back to the stage to finish up the rest of the evening's performance, Chris was still puzzled and while he had a suspicion that Darren would show up at some point the next day, he tried to stick with "oh no, he wouldn't".

"Want to walk back to where you're staying?" Darren offered when he was packed up and ready to go.

"I have a car picking me up," Chris explained, "my publicist insisted, since apparently I'm not to be trusted or something," he laughed.

"Well, it is safer that way," Darren nodded, "that was a smart idea on their part."

"So…" Chris started when they were at the front door after saying their goodbyes to Damian, having exchanged numbers and promising to keep in touch.

"So, okay awkward moment," Darren muttered, "Look, I really would like if we kept in touch. I mean, I know we just met and I know this seems like I'm asking for your number for immoral reasons, but…"

"Yeah, I was going to ask for yours, actually," Chris blushed again, "I mean, if you ever end up doing the threequel, I would really want to get to see it."

"Ah, that's all this was, trying to get StarKid VIP status," Darren chuckled, "I guess I can live with that, though. Now, give me your phone."

Darren put his number into Chris' phone and sent a text to his own so he'd get Chris' number, then handed the phone back with a giggle.

"Seriously, though? You've _that_ picture as your wallpaper?"

"Hey, it's Umbridge. Not my fault you didn't have McGonagall in the play," Chris shrugged, nonplussed.

"You'd be a perfect Minerva," Darren acknowledged, "smart, fierce, funny. I might need to talk to the guys about a guest spot."

"Don't put my hopes up," Chris sighed, "that would be totally awesome," his palm flew to his mouth and he mumbled from behind it, "and now I'm going to stop with the quotes, tell you it was great meeting you and quietly walk away before I leave an impression of a _complete_ lunatic."

"No, don't," Darren laughed, "I still can't get over you _knowing_ anything about us, about the show. It's pretty cool."

"Well, I do have to go, though," Chris sighed, looking at his watch and spotting the car waiting for him at the end of the alley, "I've a radio thing first thing in the morning. At least it's radio so I don't have to _look_ human."

"Right," Darren's shoulders slumped, "well, we've the phone numbers and everything else, so… come here."

Chris' eyes flew open in surprise when Darren pulled him into a tight hug without any warning. He'd been used to keeping his distance physically from people and most of them knew his boundaries without having them explained. Darren did seem to know too, but he simply ignored them as he wrapped his arms around Chris once he put the guitar case down. A few breaths later, when Darren didn't show a sign of hesitating _or_ letting go, Chris relaxed into the hug and let his arms wrap around Darren.

"I'll see you around," Darren said cheerfully when he finally let go and grabbed his guitar.

"Yeah, goodbye Darren," Chris smiled and they headed in opposite directions, both of them with a little extra bounce to their steps.


	4. Tell Me a Story

Chris woke up way before his alarm, his mind still buzzing from the evening before, still trying to wrap itself around the fact that out of all the people in the world, he'd met Darren Criss in a random pub in Dublin. He wondered if it was fate or a coincidence, but he didn't quite believe in either and the word  _serendipity_  kept sneaking around the edges of his thoughts. Of course, he was aware of his attraction to the dark-haired man who seemed to have every quality that Chris appreciated in people. He was funny, energetic, and talented musically and otherwise, he could keep up with Chris' snarky comments and they seemed to have a very similar sense of humor.

But then Chris' mind reminded him that he'd not seen anything that would point to Darren being interested in Chris the same way. Of course, they briefly touched on Chris' sexuality, seeing as it had been a part of the character and the surrounding publicity when Chris was on  _Glee_. Additionally, as a lot of people suspected, it was at least marginally the reason for the lack of ratings and support from the network for the show. Especially once Chris opened up about being gay and having been bullied in reality, which was slightly mirrored on the show.

He didn't know about Darren, though, only aware of his lack of prejudice and his resentment of labels. They'd veered away from the topic, not wanting to ruin their evening with heated debates on the amount of homophobia in the US. Chris knew Darren was quite active in LGBT groups and that he'd done gigs for charities, but that still didn't give him the answer Chris wanted.

_'You're crushing rather spectacularly_ ,' Chris thought when he pulled up Darren's number on his phone, still amazed that he had it at all.

When Alla came to pick him up for the interviews he had lined up, he'd managed to brush off the thoughts, though, deciding to deal with them later, or do what he did best: hide away from them to save his heart from disappointment.

"Ready to go?" Alla smiled, "you can tell me all about the reason you're smiling like an idiot on the way."

"I'm not!" he protested weakly.

"Ha! Nice try, Chris," she laughed, "You'll be spilling the beans in no time."

"It's a good thing I like you," he glared, "You're entirely too nosy for someone who’s supposed to be professional."

"Well, I do need to be informed," Alla kept laughing.

"Yeah, that's  _exactly_  why you're looking at me like I'm supposed to be spilling beans on getting laid or something," Chris replied, "which isn't going to happen, by the way."

"What, you getting laid or you telling me about it?"

"Either," Chris sighed.

"But you'd want to?"

"Tell you about it? No, not really."

"That's  _not_  what I mean, Chris," Alla smiled softly, "come on, tell me about him."

Chris sighed as they entered the lift, scuffing his shoe against the carpet there, his eyes glued to the pattern on it.

"Later, maybe," he said quietly and Alla acknowledged it with a hum then changed the topic to their schedule for the day.

The radio interview went well and so did the TV one, once Chris left the talented hands of the makeup people and looked presentable. There were kids in the studio who’d been given his book to pre-read before going on air and he had a moment of nearly tearing up when they unanimously loved it.

"You done good, boy," Alla looked at him with pride once he'd finished signing the books and talking to the kids.

"Thanks," Chris grinned happily, "I still can't believe this is happening. I mean, this is  _my_  story, the one I'd wanted to do for so long and now it's printed and in shops and we're in  _Ireland_  of all places and people actually like it."

"Do you need me to pinch you?" Alla teased on the way to the bookstore.

"No, thank you," Chris shot her a playful glare, "I'd rather not have the bruises."

Before Alla could say anything else, they pulled up at the side entrance to the store and Chris rolled his eyes with a knowing expression. He was sure she'd get her share of teasing in soon, especially once he told her about Darren and added to what she already knew about his crush, which he'd always claimed to her was minor.

Once inside the shop and settling down on the chair set out for the signing, copies of  _his book_  lined up on the table, he looked at the line of people waiting to get their copies signed. His eyes were still wide in amazement that he was sure he wouldn’t get over easily.

"Hi," a girl who was about eight came to the table first, shy and quiet, "what's your name?"

She smiled at him then, gave him her name and they had a short chat about her favorite fairy tale and character and whether it made the book she was clutching to her chest like a valuable treasure. It continued that way with other kids and about half an hour in, Chris was having the time of his life, smiling happily, talking to the kids for longer than he was technically supposed to. Already, thanks to the words from some of them, he had ideas for the sequel swimming in his mind and he'd asked Alla to get him a notebook so he could jot down some of them.

"Hi," he said to the next person and looked to about the height he'd expected the face to be, only to be met with a T-shirt emblazoned with the University of Michigan logo.

He whipped his head higher and was met with a very familiar pair of hazel eyes and a smiling face.

"Hi there," Darren grinned at Chris.

"Hi…" Chris' eyes were wide in surprise and he had to catch his breath, "what…" he started and then shook his head to clear it, "aren't you a little too old for this?" he eventually smirked.

"They're fairy tales," Darren shrugged, "no one is ever too old for fairy tales. And…" there was a hint of a blush on his cheeks, "I wanted to come and say hi."

"Well, hi," Chris laughed, "Do you actually want a signature?"

"Duh, of course," Darren handed over his copy of the book, "it's why I'm here."

Chris smiled and tried to ignore Alla's curious looks and raised eyebrow as he scribbled his name and a little note on the title page.

"Thank you," Darren grinned widely when Chris handed the book back, "oh hey, are you… do you…"

"Yes?" Chris looked at the stuttering man, curious about the question that seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"I was wondering, and I know I should've just texted you, but," Darren sighed, "do you have a break at all today?"

Chris shot a look to Alla who'd heard the question and she nodded minutely. Then she turned the schedule she was holding to Chris and he saw the lunch break that was slotted after the signing.

"Yeah, after this, actually," Chris said to Darren whose face lost the hesitant expression in favor of a happy smile.

"Would you mind if I joined you for it?"

Again, Chris waited for the nod from his publicist, who was now smirking openly, causing Chris to roll his eyes and shudder at the thought of having to withstand the barrage of questions she was obviously already lining up.

"Do you want to hang around until I'm finished?" Chris asked and immediately chuckled at Darren's enthusiastic nod.

Alla nodded to the shop staff and explained that Darren was a personal guest while Chris continued with the next kid in line. Minutes later, as Chris was discussing the reasoning behind Red Riding Hood's color choice for her clothes, quiet sounds of a guitar made him jump in surprise. When he turned around, he saw Darren perched on a stool, guitar in hand, plucking on the strings. Chris recognized the Disney song and laughed, then turned back to the kids and books, his shoulders continuing to shake at Darren's song choices.

The signing finished and all kids happily on their way home to read their books, Chris stretched as he stood up from the chair, slightly stiff despite a few breaks he took in between. He looked back to Darren, who was still plucking at the strings of his guitar, but not playing Disney songs anymore. Instead, Chris recognized one of Darren's own songs and smiled as the words crossed his mind.

"When do you need me back?" Chris turned to Alla, "and is there anywhere we had reservations for lunch?"

"You have a few hours until the afternoon TV thing," Alla looked to him from her planner, "and no, we didn't. You just take pretty boy there and head off," Chris narrowed his eyes, glad her voice was low, "and you'll tell me all about it after."

"Sssh," Chris tried to keep her quiet, "here, let me introduce you two so you're somewhat happy."

"Not quite enough, Christopher," she laughed, "but it'll do for now. I can play Mama Bear for a moment."

"Don't. Just," Chris sighed, "please don't."

"Uh-oh," Alla eyed him curiously, "I sense trouble. We're definitely talking later. Now don't keep him waiting, I'm surprised his fingers aren't bleeding yet."

Chris rolled his eyes at her as they walked over to Darren who started putting his guitar away when he saw them approaching.

"Hey," Darren's eyes seemed to be sparkling, Chris noticed, "are you finished for now?"

"Yeah, I am. We can head out, if you know somewhere we can eat?"

"I do, actually," Darren nodded, "Hi," he looked over to Alla, "I'm Darren, sorry for not introducing myself straight away."

"Alla," she held out her hand, "nice to meet you. And it's okay, this one," she pointed to Chris, "should've done that."

Chris shot Darren a ' _see what I have to put up with?_ ' look, and then rolled his eyes at Alla again.

"Now, I'll see you later," he nodded to his publicist, "Text me with the time and place you need me?"

"I will. Have fun boys!" she laughed, "make sure you do actually eat, Christopher."

"Yes Mom," he groaned, then grabbed Darren's hand and started pulling him out of the store, "come on, before she embarrasses me more."

"Awww, she cares, though," Darren laughed, "it's cute."

"I'm not five," Chris grumbled when they walked out into the street, "I can manage stuff like eating."

"Still endearing," Darren shrugged.

"So, where are we heading to? Seeing as I'm under instructions to eat."

"Come on," it was Darren's turn to tug on Chris' hand, making them both realize neither had let go since they'd left Alla, "there's a small place a short walk away."

Chris followed Darren through the streets, their fingers still intertwined, neither of them giving a thought to letting go of each other. A while later, they arrived at a small restaurant in the Temple Bar area and Darren pulled Chris in, talked quickly to the maître d' and nodded when she asked if they needed a quiet table. Chris quirked his eyebrow at Darren who simply shrugged and then they were led to a corner table that was barely visible from the main area of the restaurant.

"Sooo," Chris began after they both placed their drink orders and reached for the menus, "this is rather… romantic."

"Oh, I just…" Darren blushed, "I just figured we could talk in peace, really."

Chris' shoulders dropped a fraction, but he kept his smile on, not willing to either let Darren know or acknowledge to himself that the answer was a little disappointing. Instead, he grinned, told Darren he was teasing and then turned his eyes to the menu, focusing on the food options, or at least trying to.

“So,” Chris finally looked up from the menu, finding it impossible to focus long enough on the words, “anything you’d recommend?”

“Oh everything is good, really,” Darren answered off-handedly, “I’ve not had a bad meal here yet. Or well,  _from_  here.”

“What do you mean?”

“I usually get take-out, rather than being a sad-sack who eats by himself,” Darren shrugged, “goes with the territory of travelling alone.”

“So your brother didn’t come with you?”

“Nah, him and Lucy, his fiancée, went to do the romantic Paris thing before he plays there,” Darren explained, “the rest of the band went to Amsterdam, rather predictably and I gave myself time to explore my roots.”

“Why not have your girlfriend tag along?” Chris’ curiosity got the best of him and the question slipped out.

“Alas, no girlfriend to bring.”

“Boyfriend, then?” Chris laughed, meaning it more as a joke, but Darren didn’t respond with laughter.

“None of those at the moment either,” he shrugged, “it’s just me, myself and I lately. Very subtle, though, Mr. Colfer,” finally, a giggle escaped Darren’s lips.

"Oh no, I wasn't trying to…" Chris' cheeks turned red and he lifted the menu to hide his face behind it.

"Well, now I feel weird, because I did want to ask you," Darren winked.

"Ask me what?" Chris' eyes peeked out to meet Darren's.

"Are you dating anyone?" the question slipped from Darren's lips easily and he watched Chris shake his head, "Oh, okay. So… would you be totally opposed to me assuming this is a date?"

"Hey guys, you ready to order?" the waitress appeared at their table.

Chris was still trying to catch his breath, not quite aware of his surroundings, so Darren asked her for a few more minutes and reached for Chris' hand across the table.

"Look, I'm sorry," he whispered, "I overstepped. I just… please ignore what I said."

There was a nod to acknowledge what Darren said and after another moment of silence, Darren broke it by picking up the menu and commenting on the specials. Eventually, they both managed to choose and placed their orders, a little bit of awkwardness still hanging in the air. But the conversation got back to normal soon, though Chris' mind lingered on Darren wanting the lunch to be a date. The idea was definitely not unwelcome, but the realistic part of his brain nagged at him with thoughts he had previously, like his assumption that Darren was not on his team. And then there was the issue of both of them leaving Dublin the next day and having a busy schedule for the foreseeable future.

While they ate, he shared his thoughts with Darren, who nodded and assured Chris that he didn't take anything personally.

"We will keep in touch, though, won't we?" Darren asked as they were finishing up.

"Yeah, of course," Chris nodded enthusiastically, "Now that I have the option, I am  _so_  not going to let go. You'll be sick of me soon enough."

"I very much doubt that," Darren laughed, "And I'll see about getting you to be an honorary member of StarKid."

"Teasing is not nice, Mr. Criss."

"Challenge accepted!" Darren laughed, "I could try to call Joey right now or Mer or Brian."

"What? No!" Chris panicked a little, "No, once you're back home is fine, I can wait."

"Wait, would you be… star-struck if I put you on the phone to them?"

"Have we met? Have you heard me at all in our first conversation?"

They continued to banter all the way back to the city center and somehow managed to not get lost. Chris found the hotel he was supposed to be meeting Alla at and turned to Darren, not eager to say goodbye.

"Hey, no sad faces," Darren smiled, "we have each other's phone numbers and emails and now that I'm following you back on Twitter…"

"Oh you are?"

"What do you think I did first when I got online last night?"

Chris shrugged, "I've not been keeping up while I'm travelling, really."

"You should," Darren grinned, his eyes glinting with mischief.

"Oh dear, what did you do?" Chris blanched.

"Nothing! I swear!"

"Ha," Chris rolled his eyes, "I'll investigate later tonight."

"OK, so," Darren stepped closer, "we'll be in touch. I'm not easy to get rid of, I thought you should know."

"Couldn't have told me sooner, could you," Chris joked.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

Then, without warning, Darren pulled Chris in for a tight hug, ignoring all invisible walls Chris had built up over the years. He'd been doing that from the moment they met, Chris realized, and it wasn't in the slightest unpleasant.

"I'll see you, Chris," Darren whispered before he pulled away and walked in the direction of his hostel, leaving a slightly dazed Chris at the hotel entrance.


	5. All the Places I Have Been

"I can't believe I'm here!" Chris grinned happily at a bemused Alla.

They were standing in Trafalgar Square and Chris had just pretty much danced around the fountain, giggling way too loud for a sane grown up. He was ecstatic about being in London and had spent a full day, which was supposed to be his and Alla's day off, dragging her around every single tourist spot they could reach by walking.

"Can we…?" he turned to her and she rolled her eyes.

"King's Cross?" she asked without hesitation.

"Please?" Chris pouted, "I  _have to_  go there when I'm in London. And you know we won't have time later."

Alla sighed and began walking in the direction of the nearest Underground station, not looking back to see if Chris was following. He caught up with her fast and she had to smile as she watched him stare at just about everything with wide open eyes and a childlike amazement.

When they reached the train station and found their way around, Chris snapped a few photos of the Platform 9 3/4 luggage trolley, then pulled up his Twitter app.

@chriscolfer: Pity it's not the right time and I don't have a ticket. (KingsCross.jpg)

Immediately, a reply notification made his phone vibrate and he saw that Darren had tweeted him back, asking why he didn't pose in the photo himself. Chris grinned and sent him a picture where he did a dramatic re-enactment of Ron's fall from  _Chamber of Secrets_. The phone rang mere seconds later.

"How much does Alla hate you right now?" Darren laughed.

"She isn't my biggest fan right now, that's for sure," Chris pouted at Alla who was attempting a glare, but a smile tugged on her lips.

"Well, neither am I," Darren sighed, "I wish I was there. They were refurbishing the station when I was in London last year and that part was closed off. And this year I didn't make it to that part of the city."

"Bummer," Chris replied, "I can send you more pictures."

"Not quite the same thing, Chris," the reply was mixed with a chuckle, "but the sentiment is appreciated."

"Well, I tried. I'll go now, before Alla decides to wander off and leave me to my devices. I think I owe her a dinner or something."

"I'm thinking a few of those or something ridiculously expensive," Darren quipped, "We'll talk soon. Have fun and don't crash into walls. Or try and find a Ford Anglia."

"You know, I may have seen one…"

Chris' voice drifted off and he heard Darren's laughter ring from the phone. It made him smile though the amazement over  _actually talking to Darren freaking Criss_  was still lingering on his mind. The calls did make their meeting a few days earlier more real and Chris was finally coming to terms with now being  _friends_  with Darren. They said their goodbyes and Chris tried to avoid Alla's pointed look when they walked back to the Underground to get back to the hotel and ideally to some dinner.

The next few days passed for Chris faster than he expected and soon he was dragging his carry-on across the airport back in Dublin of all places, trying to not miss his connecting flight. He wasn't quite sure if going back to LA really felt like going home, his obsession with all things British rearing its head. But on the other hand he'd heard not only from the friends he'd made in the relatively short time on  _Glee_ , but also some new ones he'd found since.

And then there was Darren. Darren who, despite Chris' expectations of the novelty of their friendship fading fast, still continued texting him every day, tweeting random pictures from the travels he did with Chuck and his band. They even managed to squeeze in a Skype session, which provided hilarity for the simple reason that Darren in a public internet café explaining things to Chris his usual way including hands flying all over, resulted in a rather big amount of confused looks from the people passing by. Since Chris had a clear video feed, he tried and failed to hold back his chuckles at the faces behind Darren's back. Of course, once he explained himself, Darren showed him his patented pouty face, only reaffirming Chris' opinion that his mental age was generally around five.

"Five and a half, Chris," Darren insisted, "the half is very important."

"Of course it is," Chris rolled his eyes and the conversation that time never reached any mature levels at all.

Now, he was going back to LA to a promise of a proper catching up and an invitation to the StarKid lair, as Darren referred to the apartment he lived in with a few of the guys from the group. Chris was already mentally preparing himself and trying to figure out a way to  _not_  make a bad impression as a flailing star-struck idiot.

He'd been reassured by Darren that flailing was highly encouraged among his friends but that didn't quite do much for Chris' nerves. There was still the little voice in his head that kept reminding him that he was texting and talking to  _Harry Potter_. When he decided to share that he met Darren, he talked to some of his friends and none of them believed him at first. A Skype chat later, he'd been bombarded with text from Jenna, asking all kinds of inappropriate questions which Chris very quickly dismissed.

"Come on, he's got to be at least bi-curious," Jenna stated matter-of-factly, "what's stopping you?"

"Being in different countries is sort of an issue," Chris replied.

"But you didn't even try?"

"Well…"

"Come on, spill," she laughed, not even needing to see him to know there was more to the single word.

She didn't particularly help with anything, but the talks were always amusing and prepared him for the return home and his best friend.

He'd met Ashley when she came in to read for a possible role for the "season that didn't happen" as they now referred to post-cancellation  _Glee_. Chris nearly ran her over that day as he was zooming across the lot on his scooter and instead of calling for an insurance claim they both decided to call it fate and were inseparable since.

"Christopher!"

"Shut up Fink! I do not need an announcement of my arrival across the airport," Chris rolled his eyes when he reached her.

"I just forgot to make a 'Welcome home weary traveler' sign, so I compensated."

"Clearly," Chris deadpanned, "thank you for picking me up."

"Not a problem," Ashley smiled sweetly.

"Oh shit," Chris saw right through the sweetness, "who talked to you?"

"Who do you think?"

"I'm going to kill Jenna," Chris groaned, "she was under strict non-disclosure instructions."

"Hey," Ashley poked him, "best friend rights override everything. Also, Alla may have mentioned something too."

"Why was I even thinking I'm an adult? I have three extra Moms."

Ashley ignored when he banged his head against the dashboard in her car, only scowling when he started picking on a loose thread on his sweater.

"So, what's the story with the pretty boy?"

"Huh?"

"Oh don't tell me you didn't do anything at all," Ashley threw him a glare.

"Ash," Chris sighed, "it's not…"

"Christopher!"

"What now?" he grumbled.

"OK, so you've met this guy whom you've had a crush on…" she rolled her eyes as Chris stared at her incredulously, "oh please, don't even try to deny it. You've been smiling like a crazy person when watching those little YouTube videos. Do you think I'm blind?"

"I was sort of hoping…"

"Now that's not a nice thing to say," her grin contradicted her words, "anyway… you like him, I'm presuming from the lunch date suggestion, which I had to hear about from  _Alla_  of all people, that he's not entirely uninterested. What gives?"

Chris sighed again and told her he'd been asking himself the same thing, but that there was something holding him back. That he didn't quite believe it was real, that it was not that simple, that these things never were. Ashley tried for a while to tell him that maybe it was this time and he was just afraid.

"I am," Chris admitted, "I'm absolutely petrified and that's what's holding me back."

"Well," Ashley smiled, "now that we know what the problem is, we'll go from there. That'll be five Dollars and four Fridays worth of drinking, Mr. Colfer."

"Wait, what?" Chris stared as she got out of the car ' _and how did we already get to my house?_ ' he asked himself, "go where exactly?"

He heard her laugh even from behind the glass on the window after she closed her door.

Of course Darren called way too late at night, when he finally landed in California a few days later. Chris didn't particularly mind, because he was still awake and back at his laptop, typing furiously as he tried to organize all the ideas he'd gotten during the signings. He grumbled a little at the distraction, but hearing Darren's giddy voice as he rambled about warmth and beach and the ocean and ' _oh man I didn't realize just how much I missed San Fran and why did I ever leave it for so long?_ ' was enough to make him roll away from his desk and put his feet up as he finally relaxed.

"You just keep convincing me that you're way younger than your passport claims you are," Chris laughed after a particularly long soliloquy to a washed up sea shell.

"But Chris, just think…" Darren launched back into his musings about the shell and Chris was only half paying attention to the words.

They got interrupted by Chris' loud yawn mid-sentence and Darren apologized before he promised to call the next day at a slightly more human time. Chris made him promise to go home and text that he arrived in one piece and didn't get lost on the way. His notes stayed scattered all around his desk because he didn't have any energy left, only just managing to save his work before he spread on his bed, still fully clothed.

That was how he woke up, to an insistent banging on the front door and repeated ringing of the doorbell, just short of being excuse enough for murder. A glance at his watch made him groan as he realized that his plan to fix his jet-lag failed miserably.

"I'm coming," he shouted at the front door, "is there a fire somewhere?"

"Hi!" the grinning face that greeted him was almost enough to stop Chris from glaring.

"Darren," he said flatly.

"Good morning. Or afternoon, or … yeah, hi," Darren shuffled his feet, his giddiness somewhat tampered by Chris' confused and slightly annoyed face.

"What…" Chris didn't even try to hide his shock, "Ugh, actually, just come on in. I need to wake up before I manage coherency. And by wake up, I mean down about a gallon of coffee. Or a few cans of Diet Coke."

"I'm… sorry?" Darren tried but it didn't sound convincing, "I did bring food, if that's any consolation?"

"That depends," Chris marched over to his coffee machine, assuming Darren was following him.

"What does it depend on?"

"Does said food have any amount of sugar and chocolate in it?"

"Aaah, you might just be in luck," Darren grinned, "ta-da!"

Chris eyed the cookies that Darren pulled out of his bag, then turned back to check the coffee which was taking entirely too long.

"Caffeine first," he sighed grabbing a can of Coke, "then we can discuss cookies."

"I'll see if I can leave you some," Darren said with his mouth full.

"Ah, no," Chris grabbed the paper bag with cookies out of Darren's hand, "mine. You woke me up, no cookies for you."

"B-b…but…"

"No puppy eyes either, not before I'm equipped to handle them," Chris turned to the coffee machine and sighed in relief when he saw it finishing up.

He heard a thump and when he whipped his head around to check what it was, he found Darren on a stool at his kitchen island, head on the surface.

"Are you actually sulking?"

"You took away my cookies," Darren mumbled, "they're chocolate, too."

"Oh God, you really are five years old."

"And a half."

"Are you sure? Because I am actually leaning towards the terrible twos at the moment."

"I hate you," Darren's muffled voice was barely heard.

"No you don't," Chris laughed, "I have the cookies and you love anyone who has cookies."

"Not those who take them away from me," Darren's eyes finally emerged and though the puppy look was still there, so was a twinkle.

"I didn't say you'd not get any, did I?" Chris teased, finally starting to feel a little awake.

"Oh?" Darren's eyes lit up.

"Here," Chris handed him one of the cookies, "though I'm afraid how you'll get with sugar in you, in addition to your normal level of energy."

They sat in silence for a while, Chris sipping on his coffee and biting pieces of the admittedly delicious cookies that he wanted to get the recipe for. Darren managed to sit still, but soon it became obvious that he was getting restless and eager to do something.

"OK, why are you here?" Chris finally asked, "not that I mind, but it's a little… surprising."

"Well, I've not seen you in forever and I figured we could do something," Darren shrugged, "new friendships need to be cultivated or they'll not last."

"Ah, so what's the StarKid crew at that you're missing out on?" Chris grinned, eyebrow raised up.

"You wound me, Christopher," Darren faked being insulted for a moment then conceded at the sight of Chris' questioning face, "OK, none of them are home and I wanted company."

"And you picked me? I'm honored."

"You should be."

Chris grabbed a paper towel and threw it in Darren's direction. It landed almost immediately, causing Darren to giggle at the failed attempt. So Chris bunched up another one and tossed it, hitting Darren right in the face, taking him by surprise.

"Good aim," Darren grumbled, "but this means war!"

"Oh no," Chris glared, "my house, my rules. No fighting in the kitchen."

"Oh OK," Darren gave in, suspiciously too easily, "come on, how about we watch something on TV?"

Chris got up with a sigh and led Darren into the living room, his eyes flashing back because he didn't quite trust how easy it was to stop Darren. His suspicion proved true the moment they were on the couch. Seconds after Chris put down his mug, Darren was on top of him and his fingers found Chris' ticklish spots almost immediately.

"Stop it," Chris tried to sound serious, but couldn't stop laughing, "Please stop it! Darren!"

"You didn't say no fighting anywhere else in the house," Darren stuck his tongue out.

"So what, you're going to want to have a pillow fight next?"

Darren stopped for a moment and looked down at Chris, a smirk on his lips.

"Are you inviting me into your bed, Mr. Colfer?"

Chris blushed and immediately became aware of their position and closeness, but tried not to let it show how much he was affected. Darren's warm body was barely a few inches away and Chris could feel the heat off the tanned skin.

"You wish," he managed to mutter then pushed Darren off gently, "so, was the TV only an excuse or can we actually watch something?"

Darren's eyes didn't sway from Chris, but he didn't comment on their earlier physical closeness or Chris' attempted non-reaction.

"What do you want to watch?" he asked instead.

"Since you're a guest," Chris pointed to his cabinet with DVDs, "however uninvited and cheeky and boundary pushing one… oh quit that pout! ...you pick something."

A few vetoes on movies later, they were curled up on opposite sides of the couch, Chris nursing his coffee mug again, Darren nibbling on the last cookie. The movie could have really been anything, though, because all Chris could focus on was Darren. Unbeknownst to him, Darren was in the same predicament, unable to get the image of Chris' lips out of his head, wondering what it would take to get as close to them as he was earlier.


	6. When You Call

He sat in his room and plucked on the strings of the guitar mindlessly, trying to get his head clear the only way he knew. Music itself had always been the one constant in Darren's life, though being on a theatrical stage came a close second. He'd filtered all his unresolved feelings into songs before, he'd been doing that since he was a kid, making up silly little tunes before he had the ability and knowledge to transform them into full songs.

Once he'd learned enough to genuinely compose, he'd been doing less of what he came to acknowledge as self-therapy. He'd thrown himself into everything head first and letting his feelings channel into songs turned into suppressing them with his increased activity. Now, though, he had a nagging feeling at the back of his head and because it wouldn't go away, he picked up the guitar and let his fingers do the work while his brain reeled.

It wasn't that he was freaking out about Chris being a guy, though he'd never been really interested in men. He'd not resisted it either, but all the kissing and fooling around he had done in college had always been just for fun, no feelings involved.

' _Why is this so different then?_ ' he thought, ' _Why can't I just suggest we get the tension out of our system?_ '

That implied that Darren wasn't the only one feeling said tension and he couldn't for the life of him read Chris enough on that level to figure out the answer. He had a notion that it wasn't all one-sided, based on little things like Chris' increasingly forced attempts to create a physical distance between them. Or how he'd always changed the topic when their talk began drifting towards anything more personal. Normally, Darren would've assumed that Chris was just pulling away because they really didn't have that much in common and their friendship was not meant to be one of those epic, everlasting ones. There were facts to completely oppose that though, facts that pointed more to them being, despite their different personalities, extremely close.

Or at least they could be, if Chris would stop resisting the closeness like it was a threat. Darren at first thought it was because Chris noticed their increased comfort with each other and was pulling away because he didn't like it, but more often than not, when neither of them were focused on maintaining a "friendship only" distance they would end up that little bit too close for strictly platonic behavior. Chris didn't seem to mind Darren's innuendos much, played along with comments like that even though he blushed every single time, but whenever he realized that the conversation was veering towards anything too close to crossing the friendship line, Chris backed off.

Darren wasn't brave enough to flat-out ask about it either, he'd actually come to depend on having Chris in his life and didn't want to lose him for something that may have just been a figment of his imagination.

Still deep in thought, he was completely startled when his phone buzzed on the bed, the vibrations strong enough to make a shiver run down his spine.

"Hey," Chris' soft voice came from the other end of the line, "what are you up to?"

"Nothing in particular," Darren tried to shake the chaos in his brain away, "why are you asking?"

"I'm bored," Chris grumbled, "and I'm stuck. I've not had writer's block this bad since… oh God, I don't think I _ever_ had a block of this size. And it's driving me up the walls, even though I don't have a major deadline ahead, but I'm still freaking out and… just shut me up, please?"

He heard the panic rise in Chris' voice with every word and sat up, a little alarmed at the lack of breathing sounds over the phone. The free passes to Magic Mountain that Darren had stuck to his cork board above his desk caught his eye. It had been there since before the _Freelance Whales_ tour but he didn't have an opportunity to use it, which he was now glad about. A little free-falling in roller-coasters was always good for him to clear his mind, so he guessed that it at least wouldn't do any harm for Chris to try.

"Chris," Darren smiled, "deep breath, first of all," he heard Chris basically gasp, "now, do you want to get out and go do something insane?"

"Like what?" Chris asked cautiously, "I'm not jumping off bridges or going skinny-dipping."

"Now there go both my absolutely fantastic ideas," Darren laughed, "way to go ruin all the fun I completely spontaneously thought of."

"Shush you," Chris gulped, "wait, were you serious with either of those?"

"Not this time," Darren couldn't help the grin or the heat rising into his cheeks and was suddenly glad to be on the phone, "what I did have in mind was something that will make you accuse me of being a child again. But it's a fantastic distraction and since you obviously need one right now, I think the idea is totally awesome."

"Okay, you have me intrigued," Chris quipped, "just enough to forget that I'm actually an adult and should right about now hang the phone up and not want to know what's going through your mind."

' _If you knew, it wouldn't probably nag me as much because I would know your reaction,_ ' thought Darren but instead of voicing those thoughts, he laughed into the phone.

"How opposed are you to roller-coasters and such?"

"Have we met?" Chris chuckled, "Have you not heard me ramble on about potentially life-threatening exercise and controlled danger?"

' _I definitely have that one in mind, possibly more than I should,_ ' Darren felt the blush that took a steady place in his face, his thoughts now way too inappropriate for what was still on the outside a completely innocent conversation.

"Okay, point taken," Darren laughed, "speaking of controlled danger, now that I think about it, I have a better idea."

"Should I dare ask?"

"No, not telling you," Darren put his guitar away and pulled his laptop from the table next to the bed.

"Wait, were you going to suggest Disney? Because I'm totally on board with Disney, if that was the case," Chris suddenly sounded excited.

"I wasn't, but I will note that for future reference," Darren laughed, "Joey will be glad that I found another partner in crime for that."

"He's opposed to Disney? _How_?"

"He's not opposed to it, really. I may have, possibly, overstayed my welcome there over the years."

"But it's _Disney_!"

"I promise you now that we will go one day, but it's not what I have in mind for now. If nothing else, the lines right now would be insane and there's no point going for one ride only," Darren laughed at the disappointed huff from Chris, "Can you get into something comfortable and preferably damage-resistant? Or at least something you are not too emotionally attached to? I do mean clothes, before you ask."

"I think I can manage to find something," Chris quipped, "I mean, I'm not sure I should risk the life-expectancy of my ridiculously expensive _Target_ tops, but maybe I can give one up."

"Smart-ass," Darren couldn't help the grin, "Okay, I'll handle everything else and I'll pick you up in, say an hour? Can you manage an hour without actually climbing up the wall? Because if you do want to do that, we can always make a run to a store that'll sell you grips so your wall turns into one of those you can climb on without risking immediately killing yourself. I'm not sure it's high enough to be worth it, though."

"Your brain is completely out of this world, has anyone ever told you that?" Chris laughter rang in Darren's ear, "I can manage an hour, I think. I might just try and see if I can _not_ burn the kitchen down. I've been told that food is something I can't live without and I'm not in the mood to prove my Mom wrong. I have a feeling I'd lose that one."

"Have you been trying to prove again that Diet Coke is solid food?" Darren's tone revealed his concern.

"Not quite, but if I don't eat now, it may count as an attempt," Chris sighed, "and then I'd never hear the end of it from either Mom or Ashley or even you. Though your ownership of a menu from every Los Angeles take-out place is not the most reassuring thing. Not when you're trying to lecture me about my eating habits. Have you even eaten today?"

"Yes, Mom, I have. Though now that you mentioned food, I _could_ do with something more."

"Please just don't say you're a growing boy, we both know that ship has sailed a long time ago," Chris couldn't help but giggle.

"At least I _do_ eat," Darren said defensively, still typing and searching on the laptop, "Okay, topic change. We do have a little more time than I thought, so how about you change and we actually go out to eat somewhere like grown up, non-student people?"

"I can do that, I think," Chris grumbled, "of course, it does involve putting real clothes on."

"What in the world _are_ you wearing, if not real clothes?" Darren asked with an incredulous tone, immediately chastising himself for the thoughts that the question brought up _and_ for asking in the first place.

"Shorts."

"And?"

"No, that's it. It was warm. I was lazy."

Darren's imagination immediately flew away on him to places he didn't even know he could consider, though it should have been obvious from his mind process before Chris called.

"Right," he gulped, "go, get dressed. I'll be there in twenty and then we are leaving for civilization. I'm even leaving my guitar home."

"Uh-oh, now I'm worried."

"I'm hanging up on you now, before you actually say something offensive," Darren shot back, but the chuckle he tried holding back escaped his mouth.

"See you in a while," Chris laughed.

They hung up and Darren turned back to his laptop, finalizing his plan for the afternoon. He was suddenly more glad than usual that Chris had called, because he needed a distraction just as much. 


	7. Paint The Town Red

There was rummaging through his drawers and wardrobe, a little bit of panic and then resignation as Chris eventually pulled on one of his old T-shirts and a pair of comfortable jeans. He slipped his feet into his trusty Chucks and paced from the kitchen table to the window, flipping between excited and worried. He was never one for big surprises and Darren's refusal to disclose the plans he currently had was driving him crazy. The text Chris sent to enquire once again about their destination went unanswered and he didn't know whether it was because Darren was driving or because he simply continued keeping the secret.

' _Well, at least I know he_ can _keep a secret_ ,' Chris thought and even his inner voice sounded dry.

Finally, Darren's car turned into his driveway and a honk later Chris was on his way out the front door, glaring at Darren a little. He saw the bright smile but it didn't ease his worry at all. Once he got in the car and turned to ask about the plan for their outing, Darren grinned at his pleading look.

"Not telling," he laughed, "you're really not good with surprises, are you?"

"Well, for all I know you're planning to take me for a walk that I'm not coming back from," Chris grumbled.

"Do I look like I have homicidal tendencies?" Darren threw him a look, "Do you not trust me at all, Christopher? I'm hurt."

"I'm not quite sure if you've earned this much trust. Or, well, any trust at all."

"And yet you are in my car."

Chris glared at Darren some more, but stopped asking. Instead, he tried to guess where they were heading by watching the surroundings on their route, recognizing the direction but unable to figure out their destination. Then they pulled up in front of a warehouse-looking building and Darren bounced on his seat.

"We're here!" he smiled.

"Seriously?" Chris eyed the sign above the front door, "Are you… you're not kidding," he said after a look at Darren, "you're… we're going to play paintball."

"Yep," Darren answered while he was grabbing a few things out of the glove compartment, "we are indeed."

"And this was a good idea why exactly?"

"Because," Darren stopped what he was doing a turned to look at Chris, "it's fun, it's good for pent up energy… did I mention it's fun?"

"I'm going to guess you are a frequent visitor here," Chris sighed, "what with the need to work off pent up energy and all that."

"I haven't been here in some time," Darren replied, "With the tour and then a lot of work with StarKid before that, I didn't have a chance."

"And you thought to drag me along because…?"

"It's hardly fun if I went alone, is it? Please, Chris, I promise you'll have fun."

"I might as well go, since we're already here," Chris gave in, "come on; show me your aiming skills."

They walked in and Darren went through the confirmation process of their booking that he'd apparently managed to talk his way into. They signed up, got the rundown of the rules and repeated them back at the staffer, then got sent into the stock room to get everything they'd need.

Once they were kitted out in the coveralls streaked with color and protective goggles that Darren already hated from previous visits, they were handed leaflets on handling the paintball guns. But as they joked around, the staffer in the stock room eyed them with a smile on his face and before he began running through the gun info, he mentioned they had other game options.

"What would those be?" Chris narrowed his eyes, expecting the worst.

"Oh, nothing lethal," the man laughed at Darren's slightly disappointed face, "actually, I've been told it's a more fun version for those who aren't into gaming."

"That'd be me," Chris admitted, "this one is an addict, but," he turned to Darren, "you're more into racing anyway, aren't you?"

Darren nodded and then they both watched as the employee walked off to a shelf further back and came back with two identical over-the-shoulder satchels.

"What are those?" Darren inspected the one he was handed.

"Well, if you don’t mind close combat, these might be right up your alley," the man explained, "we've these," he pulled out a packet of balloons, "that we fill with paint and you are given a separate arena. The aim is not quite as strict as the regular shootout, so you're not out after three shots and you can hang around longer."

"Wait so basically, this is water balloons but with paint?" Chris enquired, a hint of interest glinting in his eyes.

"You got it."

"Ooooh, I like this," Darren grinned, "I'll paint you into a rainbow."

"Ha, you wish," Chris retorted, "you're forgetting my ninja skills."

"Yeah, I knew you guys were the right types for this one," the staffer laughed, "I take it I'll be loading these up?"

Darren and Chris nodded enthusiastically and started bantering about the upcoming game and potential bets on the outcome.

"We really should make this interesting," Darren suggested, "because I can imagine various things I would like to win."

"Which would require you winning in the first place and that's not going to happen."

"You're awfully sure of yourself there, Christopher."

"I know my skills and while the balloons aren't throwing stars or Sais," Chris revelled for a moment in the way Darren's eyes widened in surprise, "I'm pretty sure my aim is better."

"You… wait what? How did I not know you're into martial arts?" Darren accused.

"It didn't come up?" Chris shrugged, "It's not martial arts altogether, just some ninja stuff. I've sort of always been into those things, though nunchucks never really worked out for me."

"Always full of surprises," Darren sighed, "I still think I'll beat you. I'm smaller and I'm pretty fast and unsteady for a target."

"I am  _so_  not going to dispute the size thing," Chris laughed at Darren's immediate pout, "but we're even in the speed and well, I'm good with moving targets."

"Okay, are we making it a wager then?" Darren challenged.

"Sure, what are we betting for?"

"Whoever ends up winning," Darren paused to think, "fairly, Christopher," Chris pretended to be offended at the suggestion that he'd cheat, "will owe the other a favor, to be collected at any point and without protest or complaint."

"Dangerous," Chris quipped, "but I sort of like it. I have things I could ask of you. Or I could let you suffer for months and then spring the favor asking on you when you least expect it."

"I don't know whether to admire your evil streak or be freaked out, if I'm completely honest."

"Either works for me," Chris laughed.

"Okay, guys, here you go," the staffer came back with a basket filled with balloons, "you get an equal count of balloons, the basic rules are whoever gets more hits wins. You'll have to switch to different coveralls, so the counting is easier," he handed them plain white bundles of fabric, "and then you're off in the arena. It's just you two and I've no one else booked for that, so you can take your time."

They quickly changed and then followed the man to an outside area that looked like an unfinished maze, with blocks all over but only providing a partial cover. The staffer split them up and led Darren to the opposite side of the area then he came back to Chris and checked the goggles and balloons one more time before dashing off and blowing a whistle just before he disappeared out of sight and out of reach.

Chris immediately ducked behind the block wall in front of him and tried to run what he saw of the layout through his mind. He didn't know what was beyond the halfway point of the area, because there was a decent sized wall in the middle that obscured the view. He'd grumbled that Darren had potentially an advantage of having seen the whole place before he recalled the staffer shielding Darren's eyes. So, neither of them knew the entire layout, or more than the other. Chris did figure, though, that Darren would go for an immediate approach and get as far into the middle as possible. So he sneaked around the edge of the place and found smaller blocks to duck behind.

Soon enough, he caught a flash of white in between the colored blocks and almost gave himself away with a giggle. Darren's back was to him and the question was how many balloons Chris could get on target before he'd have to hide or run. He'd guessed at two and shifted his satchel so he could grab one with his left hand while he was aiming with the right.

"Aaaaaargh," came Darren's frustrated shout as the first balloon hit him square in the exposed ass as he tried to crawl behind a line of low blocks.

The second balloon flew at him almost immediately and Chris nearly missed, but the color ended up splashing a big enough circle on Darren's side and arm. That helped Darren estimate Chris' direction and duck out of the way to a block wall a little closer to Chris' hideout.

"Chriiiis," Darren said in a sing-song voice, "come out, come out, wherever you are…"

"Now," Chris called out, "why would I do that? I'm currently winning and I like it that way," he finished and immediately moved, sliding behind barriers with agility.

"So you're going to just sneak around and do stealth attacks?" Darren spoke loud enough for it to carry around the space, "where's the fun in that?"

"I'm having plenty of fun," Chris was suddenly right behind Darren and busting a balloon on his shoulder and another in his hair, "thank you," he laughed and turned to run off, the sacrifice of one color splash on his overalls not too big.

Then it turned silent for a while, the only sound they could both hear was the overhead music that would've usually made both of them sing. Chris tried to catch sounds of movement instead, still hiding and moving quickly around the place.

"Gotcha," Darren's voice startled him a moment later because he didn't expect it to come from above his head along with two full balloons.

"Damn it," Chris cursed at being caught, realizing that Darren had an advantage thanks to his lower weight and at the loss of his comfortable lead.

By the time Chris got a balloon ready to shoot, which didn't even take that long, Darren was gone and almost created a dust cloud as he dashed away.  They continued like that, sneaking, surprising each other and maintaining an almost even score. Until they both miscalculated and found themselves in front of each other at one of the block walls, with balloons at the ready.

"Now what?" Darren asked evenly.

"Now…" Chris allowed himself a small smirk and took the step closer to Darren, "Now something like this," he full-on laughed and burst the balloon on top of Darren's head, "oh look, it's conveniently pink."

"You ass!" Darren protested and landed the balloon he held on the curve of Chris' neck.

"Oh my god! Darren!" Chris growled as he rummaged his satchel for the last balloon he had, "payback! And you're not running away."

Darren actually squeaked and quickly grabbed his own last balloon, standing up straight and challenging Chris with an eyebrow quirk. Chris laughed and launched himself at Darren, balloon bursting on top of Darren's shoulder as they fell backwards into the blocks that they'd found out earlier were foamy and moveable. Darren had figured that one out and had promptly made a makeshift fort that was shortly after destroyed by Chris, who pulled out just the one block that was holding the fort upright.

Now, though, they were lying on top of one of the bigger blocks, Darren's balloon-filled hand right in front of Chris' face as if daring him to move. Chris was without ammunition, but got struck by an idea and Darren noticed it flashing in Chris' eyes about half a second before it was too late. The paint was pushed down onto his neck and dripped to the back, pooling just below Darren's hairline.

"You did not just do that," Darren growled.

"I did," Chris laughed, "and that means I win because you did miss that one…"

Chris' voice drifted from his small rant because he was suddenly way too aware of Darren's body wriggling a little under him. They both froze and Darren's eyes widened along with Chris', the tension in the air suddenly thick enough to cut.


	8. Shades of Rainbow

They startled when the music suddenly stopped. Chris immediately jumped up and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Darren didn't move, his eyes wide, lips slightly parted, looking like he was in shock. The next thing they knew, the staffer was walking towards them, smile on his face and Chris was struck with the realization they they'd probably had cameras watching them the whole time.

"Having fun?"

Again, Chris shook his head but nodded immediately after, acknowledging that he was having an immense amount of fun until that very last moment that quickly descended into awkwardness.

"Yeah, man, that was…" Darren finally seemed to come back to Earth, "that was definitely something else," he finished with a weak laugh.

"So, seeing as I couldn't be bothered counting all the hits, since you guys have impressive aim," the guy looked over Chris and Darren's paint-covered coveralls, "have you two decided who won?"

"Chris did," Darren conceded, "only just, but yeah, I can admit defeat."

"Well, that means he's the one with a voucher for a free session here," Chris smirked at the staffer's words, "of course, that's a moot point if you decide to use it together for a rematch."

Chris and Darren still didn't look at each other fully, only shot glances in each other's direction.

"Now, more importantly, we do have showers, if you need, but while the paint dries fast, it also washes off as easily dry, so you're not going to stain your car and your clothes and hair _will_ survive."

"I'm guessing that's a question you get regularly," Chris laughed, amused that he didn't even have to voice his concern.

"Not anymore, I've implemented it into the end talk."

They walked back inside, shed the stained overalls and Chris accepted his voucher and he smirked a little as he heard the rematch comment from earlier repeated to him at the front desk.

"I don't know, this one is a bit of a sore loser," Chris grinned at Darren, "wouldn't want to do that to him twice."

"Oh no," Darren scowled, "there will _definitely_ be a rematch at some point."

"Well, if you plan to lose again…"

"Or maybe you'll not be quite as lucky next time," Darren stuck his tongue out.

"You two… yeah, we'll be seeing you again, I'd say," the girl at the front desk laughed, "competitive streak a mile long, both of you."

They laughed with her and headed out to Darren's car, Chris plucking bits of paint out of his hair as they walked.

"Ugh, I hate this," he grumbled as little flecks fell down to his top, "it'll take forever to wash out."

"It's worth it though," Darren grinned, reaching for the door handle, "that was definitely fun. We'll need to do it again."

"Even though you lost?" Chris smirked.

"Especially because I did, I'll need to show you I'm better."

"You'll regret a rematch when I beat you again."

"We'll see," Darren challenged as they sat down, "now about your win…"

"Like I'm going to just use it up without thinking," Chris smiled cheekily, "this will need careful planning so I get the most out of the favor."

"Okay, now I'm worried," Darren shrunk a little behind the steering wheel, "your evil genius mind is, to be honest, just that tiny little bit on the scary side."

"Good to know it works," Chris laughed and it earned him a glare from Darren, "now, are we doing anything else or can I go home and stop looking like a _My Little Pony_ farm exploded on me?"

"There's no glitter on you," Darren shrugged, "it's not so bad."

Chris glared, "there better not be glitter on me, ever. The paint is bad enough since it is all rainbow colored."

"At least you're not bright pink," Darren rolled his eyes, "which _I_ am, thanks to you, Mister."

"Well, you do have a thing for pink, I thought it was appropriate," Chris chuckled, "It's kind of cute."

"Aw, you think I'm cute?" Darren batted his eyebrows.

"Bright pink in your hair, yes, I do think it's cute. Like a pre-school little princess would be."

"You think I'm _cute_ ," Darren continued grinning, completely ignoring Chris' sarcasm.

"Sarcasm totally flies right over your head, doesn't it?" Chris sighed.

"Nah, just choosing to ignore it," Darren laughed, "It's all above positive thoughts, Christopher."

"Thanks, Mom," Chris grumbled to Darren's amusement.

The rest of the drive to Chris' house passed almost in silence, only interrupted by the songs from the radio and Darren's occasional humming.

"Do you want to come up?" Chris asked when he was getting out of the car, "you can shower here and I can get you clothes to change into."

"As long as you don't mind," Darren's sudden hesitancy surprised Chris.

"Of course not," he smiled, "come on, goober, we both need to stop being a hundred shades of rainbow."

"But I like rainbows," Darren pouted.

"Of course you do," Chris' resignation echoed through his sigh, "doesn't mean you need to wear it, Darren."

When they got into the house, Chris called dibs on the shower and disappeared into the bathroom with a "make yourself at home" to Darren, who immediately fell on the couch and reached for the remote control. He was still flipping mindlessly through the channels, barely stopping at any of them for longer than two seconds, when Chris walked out of the bathroom door.

"Hey," Chris said quietly, "all yours."

Darren looked up and froze, his eyes widened and jaw dropped slightly at the sight in front of him. Chris was wrapped in a towel from the waist down, rubbing the water out of his hair with another one, drops of water flying in all directions, some sliding down his shoulders.

"I'll just grab a change of clothes for you," Chris continued, seemingly oblivious to Darren's shock, "they might be a little big, but anything has to be better than the clothes we played in. I'm tempted to burn mine."

The continued silence from Darren didn't register with Chris at all as he walked off to his bedroom and returned a few minutes later with a bundle of clothes and, to Darren's relief, now wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked, noticing Darren's lack of response.

"Yeah," Darren breathed out and grabbed the clothes out of Chris' hand, "yeah, fine. I'm gonna…" he gestured towards the bathroom and walked in, closing the door behind him.

The images flashed through his mind and Darren had no defense against them, because they caught him completely off guard. He closed his eyes but that only made them clearer, sharper. When his eyelids lifted and the bathroom came back into focus, he thought it would make a difference, but nothing changed. He stumbled out of his clothes and into the shower, attempting to cool himself down with the cold spray, but the images didn't change.

_Chris' pale skin, droplets of water sliding down his collarbone, damp messy hair falling into his eyes, the lines of the muscles down his chest, the tantalizing edge of the towel wrapped just low enough to cover everything that Darren wanted to see. The length of Chris' legs from the bottom edge of the towel, resting mid-thigh and how the towel moved just enough to make him want to reach out and push it out of the way. Chris' soft lips, wet from the shower and from his tongue when it dipped out to lick a stray water droplet away._

Darren gasped and turned the shower to a more normal temperature, then reached for the shampoo off the shelf, closing his eyes as he worked it into his curls. He let the feeling wash over him while he scrubbed out the paint and rinsed the foam out then he grabbed the body wash and began cleaning his skin, still trying to push the images from his mind. The scent intensified under the warm water and Darren breathed in, the memory of Chris' skin flushed from the shower hitting his consciousness like a brick.

It was when he reached his hips to wash them that he realized he was fully hard and aching. He didn't understand how he didn't notice before, but once he did, there was no stopping. He could only wrap his hand around his cock and stroke firmly, leaning back on the still cool shower wall.

_Chris lying down on the bed, his near-white skin coloring, not from the warmth of the shower but as an effect of Darren's hands sliding over it reverently. The blue of Chris' eyes almost obscured as his pupils widened from arousal, his breath heavy and uneven._

Darren nearly didn't manage to muffle his groan as he came moments and only a few strokes later, catching his breath and holding on to the wall when his knees nearly buckled as they shook.

_Oh fuck._


	9. Burning Low

When he finally stumbled out of the shower, Chris was nowhere to be seen and Darren wondered if he should dare to walk around the house to find him. Then he heard a bang from the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey," he smiled hesitantly as he walked towards Chris.

"How was the shower?" Chris asked casually and completely missed Darren's blush.

"Good," Darren managed to mumble, "I feel almost human now. A little like I'm drowning, though," he pulled on the already too long sleeves.

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't have hobbit-sized clothes in the house," Chris laughed.

"I'm not  _that_  short," Darren grumbled.

"You sort of are," Chris smirked, "but it's kind of cute."

"See? You  _do_  think I'm cute."

"Well, you're five…"

"…and a half…"

"… you're in clothes that are like three sizes too big," Chris glanced over, "Add to that your current  _I'm an angry puppy_  look. Yeah, that pretty much makes you adorable."

"And here I was going for attractive and sexy," Darren pouted jokingly.

"Nah, not happening, I'm sorry," Chris stuck his tongue out.

"Mature, Christopher."

"Thank you, I try."

"So, what are you up to?" Darren scooted closer, leaning against the counter.

"I figured after all the physical exertion," Chris started, not noticing Darren's returning blush, "We could do with eating something."

"You cook, too?"

"Well, I'm no chef, but I wouldn't starve," Chris shrugged, "it's just pasta, nothing complicated."

"Consider me impressed," Darren smiled, "anything I can help with?"

"I didn't realize I was trying to impress you," Chris quipped, "and no, not really. Just go over there," he pointed to the table, "try to look pretty, if you can."

"Full of compliments today, aren't you?" Darren laughed while he moved over to the table.

His eyes fell on the planes of Chris' back and he shivered a little as he noticed how the dark T-shirt and the yoga pants clung to Chris' body. Trying to shake the thoughts from his mind, he started asking Chris about his book, starting a conversation that flowed with the usual ease they'd developed since their first meeting. It was not a simple task to keep his mind off what happened in the shower and Darren's mind more than occasionally drifted to  _Oh my God, I jerked off in Chris' bathroom and was thinking of him while I did it_  throughout the conversation and while they were eating.

The simplest things set him off, like Chris licking his finger when he accidentally dipped it into the pasta sauce, the way his lips closed around the fork, the flush in his cheeks when Darren said something that had the potential of a double-entendre. Soon enough, Darren found that he was saying things like that on purpose and that he was thoroughly enjoying that he could make Chris blush.

"You're evil," Chris swatted at Darren with the tea towel, "does your brain even have the capacity to say things that are  _not_  an innuendo?"

"Occasionally," Darren laughed, "but it's kind of been conditioned to live semi-permanently in the gutter. I do entirely blame UMich for that, though, student life and all."

"So, all college students are actually just perverts?"

"Sort of," Darren shrugged, "I mean, it is the time for exploring options, for trying out things. It's not always full out debauchery, but it does tear down walls and boundaries. Or rather, completely disregards them."

"Maybe it's just theatre kids, though," Chris smirked, "I don't quite see English majors being quite as… loose."

"Tsk, are you calling me  _easy_ , Chris?"

"If it quacks like a duck…"

"Hey!" Darren batted weakly at Chris' arm and missed almost entirely, his fingers only ghosting over the exposed skin.

They dissolved into fits of giggles at that and kept chuckling until they finished putting away the dishes they washed and dried during their teasing exchange. Darren let Chris pull him into the living room and onto the couch, his muscles only then catching up and reacting to the exercise from the paintball game.

"Oh man, I feel like jelly," Darren sighed as he stretched out on one side of the couch.

"Same," Chris nodded, "movie time?"

"You pick whatever you deem suitable to fall asleep to," Darren mumbled after a weak yawn, "that is if it's okay for me to stay a while? I could…"

"You're not driving like this, Darren," Chris frowned, "of course it's okay if you stay. Wouldn't want you wrapped around the nearest tree in your car because you fell asleep at the wheel."

"Thank you," Darren said quietly, poking at Chris with his toes.

"So, you're really letting  _me_  pick the movie?"

Darren nodded and his eyebrow turned up, "Why? Are you going to torture me with something you know I'll hate?"

"While it would be interesting to try and find something like that," Chris laughed, "what with your general positive thoughts toward everything, including  _Catwoman_ ," Darren opened his mouth to protest, but Chris continued, "I was thinking  _Harry Potter_."

"Good choice," Darren's head bobbed in approval, "it's something that we both want to watch and even if either of us falls asleep, it's not like we don't have the movies memorized."

"That's what I thought," Chris grinned, "plus, it's already in the player."

"Lazy," Darren smirked.

"Yeah, because  _you_  would be willing to move right now," a cushion landed in Darren's face.

"Oh no, not pillow war, Chris, at least not until we're both actually capable of moving."

"Okay, that's a rain-check on that," Chris laughed, "but I  _will_  collect on that one."

Before Darren could retort with a comment about twelve-year-old girls and sleepovers, Chris pressed the play button and they both turned to the TV, immersing themselves in the movie immediately.

Halfway through the movie, Chris looked away from the screen and glanced to the other side of the sofa when a light snore interrupted the flow of the sounds from the TV. Darren was curled up in the corner, head on the back cushions, eyes closed and arms wrapped tight around his knees. In that instant, Chris noticed how much younger his friend looked when he was sleeping, despite the two-day stubble on his jaw. A light smile was playing on Darren's lips and it made Chris wonder briefly what he could be dreaming of.

He let his eyes linger on Darren's face, scanning over every feature and memorizing every inch of his skin. It wasn't that he'd not done this before, but Darren being in the same room, being so close and not aware of Chris watching him was a temptation Chris couldn't resist. Then the feelings of being somewhat of a stalker (Edward Cullen style) hit him and he tore his gaze away and back to the TV. Focusing on the movie proved harder than he thought, between his tiredness, that not even the caffeine pushed away, and the constant _want_  to keep looking at Darren. His eyelids fluttered and when they did close, he still saw Darren instead of the expected darkness.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with a cheeky grin and a pair of honey-colored eyes staring at him.

"You drool when you sleep," Darren's smirk grew.

"Do not," Chris mumbled sleepily.

"We missed the movie."

"Not all of it," Chris rubbed his eyes, "well, I didn't, at least."

"So, what are we doing now? It's a new day."

"Ugh, how are you this chipper?"

"I slept," Darren shrugged.

"I did too," Chris grumbled, "and now, I think I'm more tired than I was before."

"Will this cheer you up?" Darren offered a can of Diet Coke.

"Gimme!" Chris did grabby hands towards the can, opening and sipping on it the moment it was in his hand.

"You have a problem," Darren stated as he reached for his bottle of juice.

"Says the guy who'll drink half a gallon of juice in the morning," Chris rolled his eyes.

"Apple juice though, man," Darren sighs, taking a large drink straight from the bottle.

"Yes, Darren, I'm aware, thanks."

"Have you decided what we're doing?" Darren stretched against the cushions.

Chris' eyes fell on the thin strip of skin that was revealed when Darren's T-shirt rode up a little as he raised his arms above his head. _My T-shirt_ , Chris' brain supplied unhelpfully, because thinking that Darren was not in his own clothes was making Chris' head spin.

"Me? Why should I decide?" Chris managed to mumble, "I might just wrap up and get back to work."

"Nope, not happening," Darren grinned and slid closer to Chris' side of the couch, "you're all mine today."

"Wait," Chris managed to disguise the way his breath hitched at Darren's words, "when did we agree on this? I don't remember agreeing to a whole day."

"Small print, oh young naïve soul, it's all in the small print."

"So I suppose I should just let you decide, since you have it all figured out," Chris grinned at Darren.

"That's sort of brave of you," Darren laughed, "but since you're giving me decision power, I'll take it."

"I didn't say I did," Chris sighs, "but it does save me thinking."

"It's not like you ever stop anyway," Darren smiled and stood up, "come on, we have people to do and things to see."

Chris laughed at the deliberate rewording of the line and let Darren pull him off the couch. They got changed into public appropriate clothes, Darren's borrowed from Chris' wardrobe again and endearingly too big.

"So, where are we going?" Chris finally asked when they were in the car and pulling out of his driveway.

"You gave me decision power, remember?" Darren grins with satisfaction.

"Not the power to drive me crazy with more surprises, though," Chris glares.

"You did like the last one, though," Darren keeps his eyes pointedly on the road, "I'm pretty sure this one will be likeable too."

"Somehow," Chris sighs, "I'm not quite sure whether trusting you is the worst decision I've ever made."

"I'm hurt, Chris," Darren pouts and glances over when he stops at a red light.

"Wait, are we going out of town?" Chris panics a little, "because if we are, I should have brought my charger and you should tell me if I'll be reachable and…"

"Relax," Darren smiles, "we're not going far, I'm sure there will be a phone charger available," he waves towards the glove department, "actually, if you look in there, you'll find one."

"Are you a boy scout or something?"

"No," Darren laughed, "I just tend to have one everywhere, because I keep forgetting to charge my phone."

Chris rummaged through the glove compartment and just as he was reaching for the charger to make sure it was suitable for his phone, his thumb bumped against a sharp corner. He looked closer at what turned out to be a small box and almost choked on air.

"Really, Darren?"

"What?"

"You're keeping  _condoms_  in your car?" Chris shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh," Darren's cheeks reddened, "I just… I…"

"Well, I suppose the Boy Scout question comes up again," Chris laughed.

"It's not like I…"

"Darren, I don't automatically assume you sleep around," Chris said quietly, "it just caught me by surprise a little."

"Thanks," Darren visibly relaxed, "now that  _that_  awkward moment is over, I might just try and distract you."

"How would you do that?" Chris eyed him curiously.

"Want to try and guess where we're going?"

Chris finally looked around and realized he wasn’t recognizing anything they were driving past, though he thought he knew Los Angeles quite well.

"Okay, I'm about to charge my phone properly just so I can call the cops when the need arises."

"Don't you mean  _if_?"

"No, I'm pretty sure you're kidnapping me and I should be afraid," Chris grumbled.

"I'm not, honestly," Darren laughed, "I'd be going against myself, why would I endanger someone I have this much fun making fun of? Who else would go along with my admittedly insane plans?"

"You do have a valid point," Chris grinned, "Or you would if I didn't know half of the StarKids would follow you blindly anywhere."

"That may be true," Darren nodded, "but you're so much more fun."

"Shiny new toy, am I?"

"Aaand on that note, we're here."

"Darren?" Chris looked out the windows and then turned to Darren, "where the hell are we?"

"We're at my parents' house in Malibu," Darren explained as he scrambled out of the car, bumping his body in various places in the process.

"Why are we here?"

Darren shrugged, walked around to Chris' side and offered his hand after he opened the passenger door.

"The house has a beach that's pretty much private. I figured we could do with some more relaxing that's also fun."

"You do realize that my skin is like paler than pale and the sun is not my biggest friend, right?"

"Oh come on," Darren laughed, pulling Chris into the house, "Mom always has ridiculous amounts of sunscreen."

"And about the swimming," Chris tried one last protest, "it's not like we brought anything to actually go on the beach in."

"Why would we need anything?" Darren answered nonchalantly.

Chris froze and Darren almost got thrown back because their hands stayed connected.


	10. Sparks In The Sun

"I am not going skinny-dipping, Darren!" Chris nearly shouted, his cheeks flared bright red, the heat radiating across his face.

"Chill, Christopher," Darren laughed, "that was a joke. I have swim trunks you can borrow."

"That's provided I will actually agree to even going out in the sun," Chris grumbled but started calming down from his panic a little.

"Aw, you're no fun," Darren pouted.

"This coming from the same person who  _just_  told me I'm more fun than any of the StarKids…"

"Well, you're doing a good job making me out to be a liar," Darren's puppy eyes made an appearance and Chris found his resolve weakening, "you don't want me to turn out to be a liar, do you?"

Chris bit his lip and pushed away the giggle that threatened to bubble up over his stern expression. He'd planned to let Darren stew for a while longer, but the pleading look was quickly becoming his Achilles' heel.

"Ugh, fine," he gave in but kept up the serious expression, "I might  _consider_  going out to the beach. How long did you plan on staying here, though? We will eventually need to eat too."

"All in good time, my dear," Darren motioned towards the kitchen once they were inside the beach house, "Mom tends to keep some food around in case someone decides to stop by. It may not be culinary heaven, but it will do."

Chris began looking round the house with curiosity. Now that he was actually inside he began to relax. The house was decorated very simply, to Chris' surprise, because he expected the same messy and chaotic décor that he saw in Darren's place the one time they'd stopped by.

"Mom was in charge of decorating," Darren noted, realizing the reason for Chris' confused frown, "I was not allowed because apparently I have no taste."

"Oh you do have taste," Chris chuckled, "it's just on the level of a child, occasionally delving into 'college student', which you sort of still are."

"Hey, I  _have_  graduated!" Darren protested weakly.

"Just because you have the diploma doesn't mean your mental state actually caught up to being an adult," Chris bumped his hip against Darren's when they reached the living room, "Wow, the view is amazing," he gasped when he looked out the glass doors leading out to the patio.

"It's part of why I keep coming over," Darren said quietly, as if he was afraid to disturb the peace of the moment.

"Not the only part though, is it?" Chris sensed that there was more to Darren's sudden quietness, "there's more to why you wanted to come here."

"Yeah," Darren sighed, "I just… we're friends, right?"

Chris nodded, not quite understanding Darren's insecure and hesitant tone.

"This is where my best memories are," Darren smiled softly, "from when I was a kid. Chuck and I would get up to the most insane things here."

"You mean, more insane than on a regular day?" Chris smirked.

"Oh most definitely," sparks showed up in Darren's eyes, now turned to Chris, "I'm not going to overwhelm you with just how far back my craziness goes."

"Well, you haven't scared me off just yet, so I'd say I can handle some of it."

"Maybe once we're sitting down to eat," Darren chuckled, "now, how about we go explore the outside."

"Do I have to?" Chris whined, "I'm really not the biggest fan of getting burned. Or ending up with a whole galaxy of freckles on my face, there are enough of them on here," Chris waved over his face.

"Well I think they're cute," Darren laughed, "and do you remember how I told you about the abundance of sunscreen that my Mom stashes away here?"

"Right," Chris groaned, "I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

"Nope," Darren grabbed Chris' hand, "come on, let's get you covered in some factor two hundred, then we can finally get you out and I can toss you into the pool or something."

"That is  _not_  happening," Chris glared, "that is so definitely never ever happening. Not on your life."

Darren just laughed and pulled on Chris' hand again, starting to lead him towards the bathroom. The cupboard did indeed contain quite a few different brands and factors of sunscreen and Chris even managed to find his usual brand and high level. He grabbed the bottle and sighed at the familiar smell and texture once he started rubbing the liquid into his skin. It was only when he reached his arms that he realized he'd need to take his T-shirt off to get the cream on without getting it on the fabric. He reached for the bottom edge and startled when a pair of hands met his own there.

"Here, let me," Darren said quietly, "I'll help."

"Darren…"

"You won't be able to reach your back anyway," Darren continued, "not even you are that much of a ninja or whatever you'd need to be for that."

"I don't think it's a ninja thing, being flexible," Chris muttered into the fabric of his T-shirt when it passed his face.

"Hmm, but they do need to be flexible to get places, don't they?" Darren's voice was a little distant.

Chris heard the familiar click of the cap and then felt Darren's warm hands on his shoulders, the sunscreen warmed up but still a few degrees colder than his skin. At least that was how he explained to himself why his arms were suddenly covered with goosebumps.

"Sorry," Darren said quietly, "it's a bit cold, but it'll warm up in a moment."

"It's okay," Chris managed to respond.

He fought the urge to lean into Darren's touch as the hands descended down his shoulder blades, rubbing the lotion into the rapidly heating up skin there. Darren pressed harder against the tense muscles and Chris sighed as he started relaxing with each stroke of Darren's fingers.

"Your muscles are a mess," Darren mumbled as he massaged the tension out of Chris' shoulders.

"Thank you?" Chris wondered.

"I just mean that you probably work too much," Darren explained.

"You're one to talk," Chris hummed while Darren's hands still worked over his back, "when do you ever not have your guitar with you?"

"Well, I never know when I'm going to come up with an idea," Darren shrugged, his palms now spread over the center of Chris' back.

"That's why I'm always writing," Chris sighed, "I keep coming up with ideas and they just don't stop. So I need to keep putting them either on paper or into the laptop or occasionally the phone."

"I've noticed," Darren chuckled, "I love how your brain never stops. It's amazing."

Chris' breath skipped at Darren's words, but he brushed it off quickly, distracted by the feeling of the hands on his back sliding lower. He couldn't resist arching into the touch anymore, his lower back actually in pain from the all-nighter he pulled writing earlier that week.

"I'm almost expecting you to purr," he heard Darren's laughter.

"If I was a cat, I'd most definitely be purring," Chris laughed back, "It feels so damn good."

"Well, I can do that again," Darren offered and pulled his hands away, "with proper lotion and while you're horizontal. Your back is done."

"Thank you," Chris breathed out and reached for the sunscreen to finish putting it on.

The shivers in his skin lingered and so did the ghost of Darren's touch. Chris fought hard to ignore it, but found he was failing. Between that and the promise of a massage and a more thorough touching, he was sure if he didn't find a distraction quickly, he was highly likely to embarrass himself. What he didn't count on was Darren throwing his own T-shirt off in a quick motion and for the sweatpants to follow suit. Every sane thought vanished from his mind when Darren was there in just his boxer briefs, eyebrow raised in expectation and a question echoed through the room.

"You coming?"

A while later Chris was sitting on the edge of the pool, feet swaying back and forth and helpless giggles were escaping his throat. Darren was floating on his back in the middle of the pool attempting what seemed to be a water version of snow angels and for obvious reasons failing miserably.

"You're insane," Chris managed to say in between outbursts of laughter, "you're genuinely, certifiably insane."

"But snow is just frozen water, so this is perfectly logical to try," Darren stated in a serious tone.

"Yes, Darren," Chris snorted, "The key word is  _frozen_. Frozen means solid and solid means you can actually shape it into things, which you can't do with water because it reshapes itself immediately."

"You're no fun," Darren pouted as he swam over to the shallow end and stood in front of Chris.

"I'm plenty of fun," Chris grinned and splashed Darren with his foot.

"Oh, this means war," Darren chuckled and turned his palms up under water.

"Don't you dare, Criss!"

Before Chris even finished his shout, water was flying the short distance from Darren's hands and into Chris' face. He spluttered and shook his head, then kicked some more water at Darren, who was almost doubled over in laughter.

"You look like a drowned kitten," Darren grinned, "hair all spiky and messy and wet. It's adorable."

"Better than having water-resistant curls," Chris shot back, "does anything ever tame them?"

"Gel," Darren rolled his eyes, "I hate that crap, though, it's like a helmet. Come on, now you're all wet already, you might as well get in."

"Ugh,  _fine_ ," Chris gave in and carefully slid into the water.

It only came to his waist on that end of the pool and was pleasantly warm, so he took the plunge and flung himself under the surface. He did a few strokes under water, then resurfaced and turned back to a sight of an empty pool.

"Darren?" Chris looked around, panic immediately kicking in, "Where did you…aaaaargh!"

"Hi there!" Darren emerged from below the water level right in front of Chris.

"Don't… do that… again…" Chris panted, trying to catch his breath, "you scared the hell out of me."

"That was sort of the point," Darren laughed.

"You're incorrigible," Chris muttered.

"Ooh, the big words are out, you're not quite as bad then," Darren threw himself back onto the water and floated.

Chris' eyes wandered across the body sprawled out right there in front of him and he dug his nails into his palms to stop himself from just falling on top of Darren and kissing him senseless. Instead, he took a deep breath, tugged on Darren's foot and smirked.

"How good are you at swimming?" he challenged.

"Pretty good, why?" Darren stood up again and Chris pointedly didn't let his eyes slip to the drops of water on Darren's tanned shoulders.

"How about we make this my kind of fun?" Chris kept the corner of his mouth raised, "a few laps for a wager?"

"What do you propose, Mr. Colfer?" Darren's tone revealed that he was interested in the suggestion.

"Whoever loses will have to cook dinner," Chris stated, "and not just order something that can be stuck in a microwave, but something made from scratch and edible. It doesn't have to be tonight, but it will have to be a proper meal."

"Can you even cook?" Darren countered, "I mean, I have the skills that Mom forced on me when I was growing up, but how do I know when I beat you, you won't poison me?"

"I'm pretty sure my cooking skills could charm your pants off," Chris laughed.

For a moment, he thought he heard Darren mumble something, but he wasn't sure, so he let it go. Instead, Darren started moving towards the shallow end and looked at Chris over his shoulder.

"Are you giving me a heads-up? Because you're going to lose anyway, so there's no need."

"You wish," Chris moved to follow Darren, "There's no way you're winning this one."

"Tortoise and the hare," Darren shrugged, "don't polish your cutlery before the race is over."

Chris rolled his eyes and stretched when he reached the edge of the pool, putting his arms above his head. A gasp made his face snap to Darren and he was met with the sight of Darren lying face down in the water, fingers clutching on the edge of the pool tight enough so the knuckles were almost completely white. A second later, Darren moved to stand up and glanced in Chris' direction.

"So, how many laps are we doing?" Darren questioned.

"Three lengths up and three down?" Chris suggested, knowing that such a distance was not a problem for him and would only possibly leave him out of breath.

"Sounds good to me," Darren replied with confidence, "shake on it?"

Their palms met and Chris tried not to squeeze Darren's hand too forcefully while they recounted the terms of their bet.

"Okay, ready…" Darren grabbed onto the edge behind his back with both arms, "steady…" Chris threw one more glance towards Darren and the moment "go" slipped from both their lips, he shot forward, arms first.

The water yielded to his movements easily and Chris kept catching flashes of Darren next to him, mostly at the same level as him. Halfway through the third length after a slightly uncoordinated turn, Darren took off and gained on Chris. But the next turn he seemed to have miscalculated and Chris caught up, putting both of them at the same level again. They both scrambled for an extra boost of speed during the last length and when Chris reached for the pool edge to finish, he caught sight of Darren's arm stretching out at the same time. They pulled themselves out of the pool and sat down on the edge, catching their breath for a moment before Darren finally spoke up.

"Well," he said with a shaky voice, "we forgot to calculate in a draw. Unless you want to do two out of three?"

Chris shook his head, "no, I do have a suggestion," he said quietly, "how about a draw means that we're both cooking and the special condition is that we have to cook  _together_."

"Wait, you mean you and I, in the same kitchen, actually  _working together_?" Darren's eyes were wide in surprise.

Chris nodded and he studied Darren's face, briefly considering Darren didn't like the thought, but then there was a smile in the face in front of him and Chris breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been worried that his idea was going to be dismissed as completely insane, but it was obvious that Darren was on board.

"It's a plan, Colfer," Darren laughed, "now to figure out what it is that we're making."

"Well, just how good  _are_  your cooking skills?" Chris' eyebrow shot up.

"You should talk to my Mom about just how much she managed to force into my head about being domestic," Darren laughed, "I will say that I was faster learner than Chuck, there are quite a few stories about kitchens almost on fire."

"Which I'm sure you can tell me when I'm not worrying about you setting  _this_ kitchen on fire." Chris grinned and cringed at the same time, "do you have any helpful suggestion?"

"Pasta?" Darren shrugged, "we both like Italian, I have some recipes I picked up when I was actually there, it's usually something you do need two people for…"

"That sounds good," Chris nodded, "when are we doing this?"

"Now?" Darren piped up hopefully, "I'm sort of hungry."

"We don't have the ingredients, Darren, and I'm not in my kitchen."

"Exactly, neutral soil, you won't be getting territorial," Darren laughed.

Chris shot him a glare, "Okay, what we can do here is head back, stop to get all the necessary groceries and then go to mine to cook. Is that okay with you?"

Darren nodded and got up, offering a hand to Chris, "come on then, time to dry off and go. I'm  _starving_ ," he added dramatically and to Chris' amusement, the statement was punctuated by a growl from Darren's stomach.

"Fine, fine, I see it's time to feed the wild animal," he laughed and followed Darren into the house.


	11. The Heat is On

Once they unearthed some extra clothes, some of Chuck's stuff to Chris' relief because he wasn't too eager to wear shorts in public and Darren's pants weren't anywhere near long enough, they made their way back to LA. The stop at the store proved to be as eventful as Chris feared, because apparently letting Darren loose in a grocery store was akin to a kid in a chocolate factory.

"Darren, we need the things on  _this_  list," Chris grumbled and pointed out the list in his hand as he pulled out yet another bag of something entirely random out of the basket.

"But they're marshmallows! What if we do s'mores after dinner?" Darren's eyes lit up.

"And where do you propose we light a fire?" Chris challenged.

"Oh," Darren's face fell, "okay."

"Look, let's just get through this and," Chris sighed, "I have everything in my kitchen to make chocolate chip cookies."

That mollified Darren and they finally managed to finish their shopping and found everything listed in the recipe that Darren’s Mom had email to him. Chris fell into the passenger seat with a heavy sigh, already exhausted again from the whole day's activities. He let his head fall against the seat and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Chris?" Darren's voice tore through the haze that seemed to engulf him, "Chris, we're here," Darren said softly, resting a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"W-what?" Chris' hands flew to his eyes and he rubbed them, "we're where?"

"Your place," Darren grinned, "I think I overestimated your energy levels."

"Oh God I'm sorry I fell asleep," Chris muttered apologetically, "I just… I'm not used to this much moving around in the space of a day."

"Well, it has been rather eventful," Darren focused on Chris, "do you want to do this some other day? I mean, if you'd rather sleep…"

"No," Chris shook his head, "I'm good," he felt unusually refreshed considering he must have only slept about twenty minutes.

"Let's do this, then," Darren began getting out of the car, "I've got the food, you get the door."

"Hey, are you bossing me around?" Chris glared playfully.

"Well, someone's got to be in charge."

"And that someone should be you… why exactly?"

"Because I'm older?" Darren tried to sound confident, but failed.

"Sweetie, you're five," Chris laughed and missed Darren's eyes widening at the term of endearment, "your maturity level outweighs whatever your license claims."

"Five and a half," Darren grumbled then, "we've been through this, Mom."

"Oh come on now," Chris kept laughing at Darren's pout, "I need to be in the kitchen and have towels ready so I can swat you with one when you say things like that."

"Violent, too," Darren smirked, "I wonder what I'm getting myself into here."

"Nothing you won't like," Chris replied cheekily and immediately felt the heat creep into his face.

Darren stared at Chris' back and fought off the groan that was pushing its way through his lips and only just managed. The whole day had been an exercise in self-restraint for Darren, between memories of the shower incident the day before and the swimming pool in Malibu. Immediately after Chris took off his T-shirt to put the sunscreen on when Darren had the  _fantastic_  idea to help, he almost hit himself.

' _That was a close call_ ,' Darren shuddered at the flashback, ' _you nearly gave yourself away_.'

He nearly stumbled on the way into Chris' place because having his hands full with shopping and trying to stare at Chris' ass at the same time apparently wasn't the best idea. But they eventually found their way inside and Darren dumped the bags on the counter, nearly falling into the nearest chair.

"Seriously?" Chris laughed, " _You_  are going to be tired now? I'm not cooking by myself, you should know."

"No," Darren shook his head feeling a little dizzy but not because of tiredness, "will you give me a moment? I  _did_  drive us all the way back."

"And you also drank and ate enough sugary things that you should be way more like a Duracell bunny."

"Maybe it’s a sugar slump?" Darren looked up hopefully.

"You are not getting sweets before dinner," Chris rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Mom," Darren mocked.

"You… little…" Chris was full on laughing as he grabbed a tea towel and began chasing, a suddenly wide awake, Darren around the center island.

"We need to get you into anger management," Darren laughed as he ducked from another hit, "you have issues, man, serious issues."

"Stop teasing me then," Chris said with a chuckle, "you deserve everything you're getting here."

Darren's face immediately changed into his almost patented sad puppy expression and Chris was overcome by an attack of giggles that he couldn't stop.

"And now you're laughing at me," Darren sulked, "I get no love here."

"You'll get food if you are willing to do some work," Chris moved to the bags with groceries.

Darren sighed in resignation and started towards the cupboards to pull out the necessary pots and pans, but stopped in his tracks seconds later.

"Um, Chris," he turned around, "I have no idea where everything is."

"Oh, right," Chris looked up from the food, "how about you tell me what we need and you get the groceries out?"

Darren listed what they'd need as he consulted the recipe on his phone and began pulling out and sorting the ingredients by what they'd need when. Soon, they were working in tandem and almost wordlessly, chopping and preparing and cooking. Once the sauce and the pasta were on the cooker and simmering quietly, Darren leaned against the counter and grinned.

"We're pretty good as a team," he said with satisfaction.

"I'd say I knew we would be," Chris laughed, "but I'm actually surprised."

"What? Why is it so surprising?"

"I don't know, I just thought we have different ways of doing things, but it seems that I was either wrong or they mesh together seamlessly. It's not a bad surprise, I promise."

"The things we could do, Chris," Darren said with a tone that made it sound like he was already scheming, "if we put our powers together for good, we could…"

"Rule the world?" Chris laughed.

"Don't laugh at me," Darren pouted again, "think about it, you running for president, me as your running mate, we'd easily win."

"You can't win presidential votes by giving out balloons and lollipops, Pinky," Chris smiled softly.

"And isn't that a pity," Darren didn't get discouraged, "but maybe we should start smaller."

"You already have something you want to ask, don't you?"

"I do, actually," Darren nodded, "there's a benefit someone I know is organizing. It's for the Trevor Project."

"I've heard of that one, it's amazing what they do," Chris nodded, "are you taking part?"

"I was asked to, yes. Would you consider helping out?"

"You don't need to ask, Darren, I'd love to."

"Thank you!" Darren's grin spread over his face and without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Chris.

They both froze at the contact but a beat later Chris' hands wrapped around Darren's waist and the hug suddenly turned a lot more intimate than either of them intended. Darren rested his chin on Chris' shoulder and felt Chris lean his cheek against the dark curls.

The timer beeped and both of them jumped a little, torn out of their peaceful moment, sighing at the same time as they stepped away from each other. In silence, Chris walked over to the cooker and busied himself with finishing the meal while Darren set the table with plates and cutlery that Chris took out earlier. Even while they served dinner, no words were spoken and the only noise was the occasional hum as they ate.

"So…" Darren broke the quiet but not tense atmosphere when they put the dishes into the dishwasher, "are you completely wrecked or can we watch a movie?"

"Movie," Chris replied softly, "movie sounds like a good idea."

 

Darren opened his eyes and panicked for a second because he didn't remember falling asleep at all. The TV was playing the menu tune from the DVD he remembered only about five minutes of and he shifted to look for the remote. That was when he realized that he couldn't move and almost began freaking out for real until his brain registered the pair of arms wrapped tight around his waist.

' _Chris_ ,' he thought with a smile.

He tried to move again to reach for the remote that he spotted on the coffee table but Chris' grip on him was tight, so Darren gave up with a sigh and began taking in his surroundings. They were lying on the couch, a blanket covering them up to their waists and Chris was quietly muttering into Darren's hair. The words were indistinguishable, but the tone of the voice was soft. The mumbling made Darren's smile wider and he put his arm on top of Chris', stroking gently over the long fingers resting on his stomach.

"Darren," the first clear word slipped from Chris' lips and Darren froze, expecting the panic to set in.

It didn't, though, but Chris loosened his grip a little and Darren managed to turn in the embrace he was engulfed in. He found Chris still asleep, a smile playing on his lips, eyes moving almost frantically behind the eyelids. Then Chris' tongue swept over his bottom lip and it took all the self-restraint Darren had to not follow it with his own lips.

"Chris," he whispered instead, wondering if it would be enough to wake the man next to him.

"Hmmm," Chris hummed and moved, his arms pulling Darren closer again, "shh, comfy, wanna sleep. Nice dream."

"Oh really?" Darren grinned, suddenly extremely curious, "will you tell me?"

"No, can't," Chris mumbled, dipping his head into Darren's hair, "'s embarrassing."

"Can't be so bad if it was a nice one," Darren chuckled quietly, his fingers running over Chris' arm.

"Hi," Chris finally opened his eyes a fraction, "You're soft."

"What?" Darren's face scrunched up in confusion.

"Like a teddy bear," Chris sighed, "so comfy, I wanna keep you to cuddle."

"Well, I'll never turn down cuddles," Darren laughed, "but maybe next time we'll find a place that has more room?"

"Trying to get me into bed?" Chris' eyebrow shot up.

Darren's cheeks turned pink because the moment he voiced his suggestion, the image of Chris in a bed, with considerably fewer clothes than they were wearing, flashed through his mind.

"Maybe," he gathered his wits and grinned, "should I take you out to dinner first or something?"

"We had dinner," Chris whispered, "But I cooked most of it, so that doesn't count."

"Does too, I helped," Darren pouted.

"Yeah, you did," Chris' voice faded and he pressed his whole body closer to Darren's, "We missed the movie again."

"We did," Darren nodded, "want to try again?"

"Too tired," Chris shook his head, "want to sleep some more."

"I'll leave you to it," Darren moved to extricate himself from Chris' arms only to be pulled back in immediately.

"No, cuddly," Chris grumbled, "Would you… do you want to stay?"

"The couch isn't the best place to sleep though," Darren sighed, "we'll both be broken in the morning."

"No," Chris lifted his head and looked into Darren's eyes, "bed. I can share and I promise no funny business," he said solemnly.

"Well isn't that a waste of a bed-sharing," Darren quipped and smirked as a blush took over Chris' face, "kidding, just kidding. Yeah, I'll stay," he conceded attempting to make it sound like a big sacrifice.

He failed, though, because the idea of sleeping while having Chris wrapped around him like they were on the couch was appealing to a degree that had him worried. Not because it should've been uncomfortable but because he was afraid he'd say or do something that would let Chris know just  _how_  appealing the thought of being so close was.

Chris finally let go and they both scrambled off the couch, stretching because it really wasn't built to sleep on, at least not for more than one person. Darren tried not to stumble as he moved his tired legs to follow Chris and grumbled when he heard the insistence that they needed to change into more comfortable clothes. Chris blushed when Darren muttered that no clothes was better anyway and it saved time, but then a pair of pajama bottoms flew at Darren's head and he managed to change into them without accidents, to his own surprise.

"Come on, I want my cuddles," Chris whined from the bed, already tucked under the covers.

"You're greedy, Colfer," Darren laughed and slid under the warm sheets.

"Hugs, they're good for the soul and all that."

"Your hugs are the bestest," Darren teased.

"Oh shut up, cuddle and sleep," Chris grumbled, wrapped his arms around Darren and his face pressed into Darren's shoulder, "you forgot your T-shirt."

"What T-shirt," Darren looked over his shoulder, confused.

"Doesn't matter," Chris' voice was muffled, "like you this way. Warm."

"Sweet dreams, Christopher," Darren whispered with a smile and closed his eyes.


	12. Memories Of My Own

"I don't understand why I need to wear a tie," Darren shook his head, "I'd be perfectly fine with a shirt and a suit and I'm even wearing nice shoes."

"Oh stop being a baby about it, Darren," Chris admonished, "you need to wear a tie because people wear ties to events where the dress code says 'suits'. You'll live."

"It's so restricting, though," Darren continued complaining.

"Would you prefer a bow-tie?" Chris suggested, clearly exasperated.

"Yes, actually," Darren's eyes lit up then his smile faded, "you won't agree with me wearing a cute and funny one, will you?"

"Why did I agree to this again?" Chris threw his hands up, "I should've just met you there."

"But I am… I was in desperate need of help. You know how it normally ends up when I'm trying to dress myself."

"Pink and shiny?" Chris grinned, "Which is amusing, but also entirely unsuitable for half the events you're at."

"Hey, I didn't wear pink to the  _Deathly Hallows_  premiere!" Darren protested.

"Thanks for reminding me that I  _wasn't_  there," Chris grumbled, "Though at least I made the New York one."

"It's a pity we didn't know each other then, or I would've brought  _you_."

"What, and have me be seen with the jumping clown on a red carpet?" Chris winked.

"Wait, how do you… what do you mean?"

"Did you think no one saw those pictures?" Chris laughed, "You must have seen them too."

"I did, but…" Darren's mouth opened and closed a few times in shock.

"At which point did you forget that I'm a StarKid fan?"

"I do remember that, but I didn't think…"

"…that I looked up pictures of you online? Or saw your gigs on YouTube?"

"You did that?" Darren continued gaping, "Wow."

"Maybe…" Chris blushes as he answers coyly.

"Now I'm not sure whether to be embarrassed or flattered."

"Go with flattered, I don't think you can pretend to be embarrassed in this case," Chris' lips turned up at the corners.

"You're not insinuating I'm conceited, are you, Christopher?"

"I would never!" Chris threw his hands up in self-defense, "now, back to the job of making you look semi-decent."

"Is that all you think I can amount to? Semi-decent?"

"Do  _not_  give me the pouty face, Darren," Chris said sternly, "I'm doing my best here," he laughed, "you're not so bad, really."

"I'll be taking that compliment," Darren chuckled, "now, let's get your pretty self to the event so I can be a nice accessory."

"Why Mr. Criss, are you my arm candy?"

"Can I, please, can I? I've always wanted to be candy. Or eat candy."

"Seriously, you need limited access to whatever sugary crap you're eating," Chris shook his head in exasperation, "You're impossible."

They finally left the house after an almost heated discussion on whose car they were taking, only agreeing that there was no point driving separately. Eventually, Darren won, stating that since they were at Chris' house, he could just drop him off later and it wouldn't need to restrict both of them to not drinking. Chris tried one last attempt to convince Darren that he wouldn't be drinking anyway, but stopped himself before he offered a sleepover.

Once at the event, Chris found that he really enjoyed hearing the success stories from people involved in the project and expressed his regret that he had not been aware of it when he was in high school. Darren listened in and though he knew a little of Chris' struggles in Clovis, he still shuddered at the amount of bullying his friend had to put up with. More than once, he was overcome with the urge to just hug Chris, to hold him and to figure out a way to zap himself to Chris' high school years and tell him it would be okay eventually.

"Darren? Are you okay?" Chris walked over when he noticed Darren deep in thought, frowning.

"Yeah, fine. I'm fine for the most part," Darren tried for a more convincing tone, "There's just so much to dwell on at these events."

"Don't," Chris lifted Darren's chin, "don't think about the way people get here. Think about where the majority of them go once they've been through this place."

"Like you?" Darren whispered and Chris' eyes widened, then he nodded.

"Yeah, something like that," Chris replied, "except Clovis wasn't a place that would have access to things like this," he swept his arm around the room, "this would have been awesome, back then."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but that doesn't quite seem like the right thing to say," Darren's voice was weak, "I really wish there was something I could do so no one would have experiences like that, ever."

"The world would be a nicer place if bullying didn't happen, or name-calling, or abuse," Chris sighed, "but look, people and projects like this help. People like  _you_  help."

Darren lifted his eyes to Chris, saw the sincerity in them and that was the last push he needed to lunge forward and wrap his arms around Chris' slender shoulders. He held tight and breathed a sigh of relief when Chris returned the hug, letting Darren silently know that he didn't overstep. The embrace lasted a little longer than Darren originally intended, but he felt more than comfortable being so close to Chris. Eventually, he pulled away with reluctance and looked back into Chris' blue eyes, only to find them swimming in tears.

"Chris, I'm… look, did I push you too far?" Darren asked worriedly.

"No," Chris gulped, "No, not at all, I just… there are few people who do this."

"What, invade your personal space without hesitation?" Darren managed a smirk.

"Well, yes," Chris shrugged, "you… I don’t know how you do it, but it's nice. You…"

Chris' voice faded out and he realized he almost said too much, confessed feelings he wasn't supposed to have and was pretty sure weren't going to be returned.

"I care about you, Chris, that's all," Darren said gently, "No tears, OK?"

Chris blinked a few times to get the dampness out of his eyes but wasn't having much luck, especially not when he was looking at Darren's sympathetic expression. It definitely became too much when Darren's hand rose to Chris' cheek and his thumb gently brushed over it. He noticed that Darren’s eyes flickered down to his lips briefly and suddenly Chris found it even harder to breathe.

"Darren…"

"OK," Darren noticed the slight panic in Chris' eyes, "not now, but… we'll talk after this?"

"Yeah," Chris nodded and gulped, overcome with everything that was rushing through his mind.

Darren reached for Chris' hand and gave it a soft squeeze before he stepped away and headed towards the back of the stage to get ready to perform as he was scheduled. Chris watched him walk away and frantically tried to get his brain to unscramble his feelings and thoughts. It didn't help much, because his attempt was interrupted by the moderator announcing Darren on stage.

"Hi," Darren settled at the piano, "so, this song means a lot to me, I wrote it what seems like a lifetime ago, but the words still ring true. This is for everyone who ever felt alone, because you're really not."

Chris could feel Darren's gaze from the stage and couldn't tear his eyes away either as Darren began to play  _Not Alone_. Of course the words were familiar from the musical, but the arrangement with the piano made the song somehow  _more intense, stronger_  and more touching. By the end of it, Chris' eyes weren't just damp, the tears were falling steadily and he didn't even bother wiping his cheeks anymore. Darren of course noticed, even from the stage, since Chris was sitting close enough to the front and he nearly choked on the last few words, scrambling to get the song done. All he wanted to do was to run to Chris, wrap him up in a tight hug and make the tears go away. He held on through to the end of the song though, finished up sort of gracefully and once he was behind the curtain, he dashed over to find Chris.

"Hey," Chris stared at his hands in his lap, "that was…" the words got stuck in his throat.

"Chris?" Darren said softly, "Are you… Is everything OK?"

Chris nodded, still not looking up and started picking on invisible fluff on his pants. Darren reached over and grabbed one of Chris' hands, pulling it closer and letting their fingers intertwine. Finally, he saw Chris move his head up and he gulped at the sight of the blue eyes swimming with emotion and tears.

"Look, I'm done here and we're not needed for the telethon," Darren whispered, "Do you want to… we should talk."

"That's a little ominous," Chris managed a dry chuckle, "But yes, I think we do."

"Let's get out of here then, I need to stop being strangled by this bowtie," Darren stood up and pulled Chris up too as he wasn't willing to let their hands part.

There was a little awkwardness as Chris realized that they were possibly giving an impression to others that would lead to assumptions. He tried to get his hand back, but Darren just pulled him closer, glanced over with a shake of his head and continued towards the exit, mumbling excuses and apologies to some people they ran into on the way. By the time they got to Darren's car, Chris was a lot more relaxed and because there were no strange looks, only mildly amused ones, he let the warmth from Darren's palm wash over him and relaxed into the continued touch.

"We're here," Darren nudged Chris who was staring out of the window, completely lost to reality.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just…"

"It's fine, let's… do you mind if I come in?" insecurity rang through Darren's voice.

"I don't," said Chris, "of course I don't, Darren."

A heavy silence fell over them as they entered the house, both of them shuffling their feet and staring at the floor. Until Darren took a deep breath, took a few steps until he was standing right in front of Chris and his hand rose to lift Chris' chin.

"Hey," Darren's voice was barely audible, but the gentle, caring tone of it still made Chris catch his breath.

"Hi," he replied with wide eyes and panic running through his veins.

"So…" the silence was broken but Darren was still scrambling for the words and sentences that his brain didn't seem willing to give up, "Chris, I…"

"Yeah, I know…" Chris nodded when he realized that Darren was just as confused about the moment and the situation, "my brain is completely frazzled."

"I thought it was just me," Darren chuckled lightly, glad that Chris' comment managed to cut the tension.

"I don't know what I'm thinking right now," Chris admitted reluctantly, "I've not been this confused in… I don't actually remember ever being this confused."

Darren looked into Chris' eyes, his own gaze steadier more and more with every breath. He was suddenly extremely aware of how close they were standing, how Chris' lips moved wordlessly as if he was about to say something very important but the words wouldn't push out of his mouth. But he hesitated, saw the panic in Chris' eyes and knew that it wasn't the right time for rash decisions.

' _I want to kiss you_ ,' Darren shouted in his mind, ' _I want to taste your lips and hold you tight and make everything go away_.'

He didn't, though, much as it was at the forefront of his mind and even though it was almost physically painful  _not_  to move closer. Instead, he reached for Chris' hands and let their fingers brush against each other, finding their way together automatically. His gaze dropped and he smiled at how their hands seemed to fit perfectly, without hesitation.

"We don't have to talk now," the whisper came when Darren looked back up, "I think… I think we can both agree that this is _something_ , but we both probably need a little time."

Chris nodded, "Thank you," he said back quietly, "that doesn't mean I want you to leave, though. Not now, not today. Can you please stay?"

Darren's frantic nod made a smile appear on Chris' anguished face and they moved to the living room, letting one hand go but keeping the other in a tight hold.

"I don't think we're awake enough to watch a movie," Darren suggested, "I can just stay here, you go get some sleep."

"No," there was firmness in Chris' voice, "come with me."

He didn't wait for a response before he pulled Darren towards the bedroom.

"I have no hidden agenda or promises," Chris explained, "I swear I don't. But the memories… let's just say I need your brand of clingy."

"Happy to provide free hugs," Darren's cheeky grin made a reappearance, "Professional cuddler, at your service." He said and then bowed slightly

Chris laughed and pulled out two sets of pajamas, consisting of T-shirts and long sweatpants. He handed one set to Darren and they both began to remove pieces of clothing. There was a momentary glare when Darren just tossed his clothes to the door, but it quickly faded when Darren bent down to untie his laces. Chris' mind was overcome with thoughts entirely inappropriate for a 'no hidden agenda' setting, though if he was honest with himself, pretty soon any agenda he had would be anything but hidden, especially in loose sweatpants.

"Chris?" when Darren's voice interrupted Chris' internal reminders to calm down, he noticed that while he was still struggling to open the shirt buttons, Darren was already in the much more comfortable attire, "need help there?" he heard the question and despite his best intentions, Chris only nodded dumbly.

Darren stepped closer and gently moved Chris' hands aside, instead bringing his own fingers to the shirt buttons and began opening them one by one. Chris expected a highly charged moment but it turned out to be the most caring thing he ever remembered anyone doing, short of maybe his parents taking care of him when he was sick.

"Let me take care of you, OK?" Darren whispered as he worked on the shirt, immediately replacing it with the T-shirt Chris had ready, "Let me help."

Chris nodded again and tried to steady his breathing while Darren continued to remove the layers of clothing, leaving Chris in his underwear for only a brief moment, clearly sensing the hesitation and shyness. Once they were both in their pajamas, Darren led Chris by the hand towards the comfortable-looking bed, pulling the covers off and Chris sunk onto the mattress. He immediately curled up into a ball and felt the bed dip as Darren followed him, and the warmth of another body in the usually cold and uninviting bed surrounded Chris completely.

"I know that technically I'm smaller and designed to be little spoon," Darren laughed quietly, "but tonight, let me hold you."

"Please," Chris breathed, "thank you."

"I'm glad I can help," Darren's breath brushed over Chris' sensitive skin.

"I'm so glad you're here," Chris whispered and felt his eyelids drop as he sunk into dreamland.


	13. Waking Up

It seemed like he had barely slept, but when he managed to pry his eyes open, he was met with Darren's peacefully sleeping face that made him wonder when they moved enough to be facing each other. The light was another unexpected visual, the sun sneaking though the gaps in the curtains just enough to make Chris think it was probably very early in the morning. It was still too quiet and Darren seemed way too peaceful to wake, so Chris, with the knowledge that neither of them actually had places to be, drifted back to sleep, the fact that he slept without any nightmares not quite registering completely.

When he woke again, the thought hit him like a freight train, but he didn’t get the chance to dwell on it. A brush of a finger on his cheek made his eyes fly open and Chris found himself staring into Darren's eyes. He saw a soft, almost reverent expression in the smiling face in front of him and raised his eyebrow in question.

"I promise I wasn't watching you sleep," Darren blushed, "at least I didn't for the whole night."

"Debating whether I should believe you is too complicated," Chris laughed, "But since I did wake up for a moment earlier and saw you asleep, I do believe you. You’re not a vampire because, however handsome, they don’t actually sleep whereas you do. Although, you do get glittery enough to be a vampire  sometimes."

"Nothing wrong with some sparkling," Darren pouted, "I'll have you know, it's actually fun to craft with glitter. It's oddly therapeutic."

"And shiny and messy and most of your crafting projects probably never get finished," Chris continued his giggles, "On a different topic, since I mentioned messy, I keep meaning to ask something…"

"What is it?" Darren listened with curiosity.

"How come you never leave your hair to grow out anymore?"

"Oh…" Darren's face immediately turned red again.

"What did you do to it that caused trauma to you or the hair?"

"You're presuming it was a result of something  _I_  did."

"Of course, it usually is."

"OK, that's a fair point," Darren conceded.

"So, now that you're done avoiding the answer," Chris grinned, "why did you cut your hair in the first place? I liked the afro," he blushed at the admission.

"Yeah well," Darren's voice got quiet, "the audition agents weren't partial to it," he cringed, "and I did swear to myself I'd never admit it, but that's why I cut it."

"Oh I remember seeing the tweet now," Chris remembered, "didn't you mention later that you'd be sticking with the hairstyle because you would never be doing that for something like an audition? Wait," suddenly the pieces of the mystery started coming together for him, "that was for  _the_  audition?"

Darren nodded and sighed, "Yeah, the audition that did work out although the show ultimately didn't."

"I wonder if I would've recognized you on set," Chris mused, "though I'd say I would. I was pretty obsessive about checking what you were up to."

"You were?" Darren asked incredulously.

"Technically, I still am," Chris hid his face in the pillow and the rest of his sentence came out mumbled, "though at least now I have a first-hand source."

"That completely justifies stalking," Darren laughed, nudging Chris gently.

"I am  _not_  a stalker," Chris grumbled, "I'm just… heavily interested."

Silence washed over them as the words registered in both their minds, the multiple meaning of them hit Chris and Darren in the face like a ton of bricks.

"Are you?" Darren's whisper was cautious, like the answer to the question would change everything.

"Yeah," Chris murmured, "yeah, I am."

"Chris…"

Neither of them knew what to say, but Darren suddenly couldn't hold back what he'd wanted to do for quite some time. He lifted his hand to Chris' cheek, brushed his thumb over it softly and shifted a little closer, ignoring that they were only just awake and had morning breath and anything else that should have bothered him.

"Can I…" he barely managed to make his voice audible, "can I kiss you?"

Chris' eyes widened and he felt like he'd been waiting for the question from the moment they met in Dublin, but it still managed to catch him by surprise. He nodded almost imperceptibly and completely forgot to breathe when Darren's lips ghosted over his mouth. There was hesitancy in Darren's action, like he still wasn’t quite sure it was okay to move, to connect their lips this way. Chris grew impatient with the barely there touch and pressed in, his head moving closer as if there was a thread pulling him closer to Darren, or magnets that couldn't bear staying away from each other.

The kiss grew and their lips began moving together, still cautious, but less so with every beat of Chris' heart. He was aware of the softness of Darren's lips, of the way Darren's hand tightened around his cheek as if it wanted to grab on and pull him even closer. Chris' palm connected with the back of Darren's neck and slid up into the curls, tugging their heads closer. He felt his lips open, his tongue darted out to Darren's bottom lip and the gasp that echoed between them made Chris shiver. Darren immediately leaned into the kiss more, his mouth opened and soon enough their tongues were sliding against each other slowly.

"Wow," Darren breathed out when they managed to pull away from each other, their eyes wide, cheeks flushed, "that was… wow."

"Yeah, that's about…" Chris reminded himself to breathe evenly, "You're…"

"Can I do that again?" Darren asked with innocent enthusiasm, "Please?"

Chris' lips crashed against Darren's instead of answering, this time with zero hesitation. He wanted to get the taste of Darren's mouth on his tongue again, like he'd tasted something heavenly that he couldn't get enough of. Darren was in the same boat, he felt addicted to Chris' lips already, even if this kiss was only the second one, but he already found it hard to remember how he  _existed_ not knowing what it felt like to be kissing the man in front of him.

"I could kiss you forever," Darren mumbled between small pecks he began peppering over Chris' lips when they parted to take a breath, "not kidding, I really could."

"Well, I'm sure your stomach will eventually demand something more edible," Chris smiled into the kisses, "I'd prefer if I wasn't breakfast."

"I'm sure I could try to live off your kisses," Darren wasn't deterred, "you taste better than anything I can currently think of anyway."

"Pancakes?" Chris laughed and immediately heard Darren's and his own stomach rumble, "I think we'll eventually, probably soon, need to move to the kitchen and get real food."

"The way you're talking," Darren pulled away, a pout invading his face, "I'm going to start thinking you don't want to kiss me anymore."

Chris laughed and pushed Darren into the pillow, then slid on top of him and kissed him greedily, leaving Darren to catch his breath once their lips parted.

"Fuck," Darren panted, "yeah OK, I get it."

"Now," Chris stated smugly, "can we go get ourselves a little more presentable and fed with something tangible?"

"Yeah… just give me a moment," Darren was still shivering from the last kiss, "you… damn, Chris."

"Come on," Chris insisted and pulled at Darren's arm.

He finally succeeded in making Darren move and get out of bed, then dragged him over to the bathroom. The unexpected intimacy of them sharing the bathroom didn't go unnoticed by either, but it wasn't unwelcome or uncomfortable. Instead, they nudged each other's hips, giggled through the toothpaste foam but through it all, their hands kept brushing against each other like they had to be connected at all times. That continued when they walked over to the kitchen and worked on the pancakes that Darren now insisted he couldn't function without.

"You're insane," Chris laughed when they settled at the table and he watched Darren pour an insane amount of syrup over his pancakes, "no wonder you're bouncing off the walls all the time. I wonder if your blood is more syrup or blood."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Darren said defensively, "this is perfectly normal," he pointed to his plate.

"Of course it is," Chris giggled, "for a child."

"You're the one always pointing out I'm five," Darren shot back, "I'm just living up to expectations."

"That you are," Chris smiled softly, "in more ways than this."

"Oh really?" Darren flirted, "What other expectations did I live up to?"

"Finish that diabetes source and I may show you," Chris took a bite of his own pancakes and turned away, trying to seem nonchalant.

"That's what I call motivation," Darren said and began stuffing his mouth with the rest of his breakfast, chewing loudly and with increased speed.

"Don't choke," Chris didn't look over as he laughed, "That's a little counter-productive."

Darren tried to mumble a response that vaguely sounded like he was trying to mention mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or the Heimlich, but Chris was too busy laughing to listen properly.

"I'm done!" Darren gulped down the last bite of his pancakes at the same time as he was standing up and moving towards Chris, "Come here!"

"I wasn't…" Chris managed to get out before he was pulled out of his chair and silenced by Darren's lips.

Chris turned so his back was against the table and he took a step so he could put his weight against it, breakfast forgotten as he tasted the syrup off Darren's lips. His fingers hooked into the elastic of Darren's pants and Chris pulled him closer, their legs slotting together and hips touching.

"Fuck," Darren breathed into Chris' neck when they pulled apart and he dropped his head onto Chris' shoulder, "Chris you… god, you can't just do that."

"Why not?" Chris wrapped his arms around Darren's waist, "you seemed to be enjoying that."

"I was, but maybe a little bit too much," Darren groaned, "I…"

"What is it?" Chris' voice revealed his concern and he let Darren slip away a step.

"We still didn't talk," Darren sighed, "we said we would."

"Oh…" Chris' face fell immediately.

"No!" Darren saw the disappointment, "No, it's not that I  _don't_  want to do this, I promise."

Chris relaxed, but still hesitant, asked quietly, "what do you want to talk about?"

"Everything," Darren stated simply, "You're… Chris you're so important to me, I don't want to rush into anything. I don't know what this," he waved his hand between them, "means to  _you_ , but I want to… I really don't want to mess up."

"Darren," Chris whispered, putting his hands back on Darren's hips and bringing them closer, "I don't want either of us to mess this up. This is… I can't say everything about this is a surprise," he choked out, all too aware of how much he was admitting.

"Wait, what?" Darren's eyes flew open.

"I… may have had a crush on you before we met," Chris's cheeks turned bright red, "I really shouldn't be telling you…"

"You… what?"

Darren was looking at Chris like he'd just admitted to owning Hollywood but Chris didn't notice the stare, because his head was pointedly fixed on a spot on the wall behind Darren's face.

"Chris…" Darren whispered, his hand lifting to turn Chris' jaw in his direction, "Do you know why I was so eager to land that audition for  _Glee_?"

"Because it was acting and singing all in one and it would be perfect for you," Chris shrugged, answering with the assumption he'd made when Darren first talked about his audition process.

"Not quite, though I'll admit that was a part of it that made for a good excuse and was true the first time, which resulted in failure," Darren shrugged, "but the other one, the one that cost me the afro…" he gulped, "I heard about a role that was on the table and knew it would be one where I'd get to work with you closely."

"You…" Chris looked Darren straight in the eyes, looking for a sign of a joke or a lie, "are you saying you auditioned and cut your hair so you could…"

"…be around you," Darren nodded, "meet you. I'd have, at that point, taken even being an extra if it was a way to try and get to talk to you."

Chris didn't say anything, just stared at Darren for another moment and then cupped his chin and brought their lips together. The kiss didn't turn passionate, though, it remained sweet and innocent and gentle as if Chris was trying to remind himself that Darren was real.

"You're," Chris breathed, "incredible."

"It's," Darren's face lit up, "I can't quite believe that you didn't run off."

"Maybe because I was the one who was all fanboy when we first met?" Chris shrugged, "it sort of makes me feel less embarrassed about the almost stalking I did before Dublin."

"And yet we only ended up meeting by accident," Darren laughed, "the irony of it all."

"Irish luck," Chris grinned, "I'm considering believing in four-leaf clovers."

"I already do," Darren pulled out of Chris' arms and reached to tangle their fingers together instead, "now that that's out of the way, can I… will you go out with me? I know I'm going about things a little backwards and we shouldn't have kissed first, but… please?"

"Of course," Chris laughed, bringing one arm to his chest, fingers still around Darren's.

"Thank you," Darren whispered, looking at Chris with obvious relief, "I promise I'll make it up to you for not doing this the right way."

"Well, technically, the lunch in Dublin could count as a date," Chris grinned, "I did sort of want it to be."

"Now he tells me," Darren rolled his eyes, "but then the dinner we cooked together could count too."

"And the multiple movie nights, along with the paintball game, though that one is debatable," Chris kept chuckling while he pulled Darren closer.

"You're just trying to make me feel better," Darren pouted.

"Yes," Chris admitted, "Because when I convince you that we'd actually been on multiple dates, maybe we can kiss some more."

"I don't particularly need convincing, you know?"

"You're not kissing me now, so you do…"

Chris' words were cut off by Darren's lips, because he wasn't one to back off a challenge and what Chris was saying definitely sounded like one. Their lips pressed against each other and soon the hands that were stuck between them felt like they were in the way, so Darren let go and brought the hand to the back of Chris' neck instead, brushing over the hairline on the back of it. Chris hummed into the kiss and that sent shivers down Darren's spine.

"So, which date is second base?" Darren smirked after he pulled away and caught his breath again.

"Hmmm," Chris bent forward to kiss Darren's lips gently, "I don't know, I thought you were the one wanting to go slow."

"There's slow," Darren grumbled, "and there's thinking about you naked for months."

"Darren!" Chris looked scandalized.

"What," blush spread over Darren's face, "I'm not going to tell you  _everything_ , but I thought you'd figure that much from what I told you earlier."

"I didn't, actually," Chris was blushing too, "that's definitely not what I expected, despite your usual bluntness."

"Sorry, I…" Darren began to pull away, but Chris held him in place.

"Don't," the whisper reached Darren's ears, "I may be surprised," Chris explained, "but not in a bad way. That said, I do think you're right that we should take this slow. You're… don't tell Ashley I said this, please… you're my best friend and I don't want that to be in any way threatened."

"Me either," Darren wrapped his arms around Chris a little tighter, "but we're good together."

"Yeah," Chris nodded, "yeah, we are."


	14. Not Alone

Soon they were stretched out on the couch and Darren insisted on watching the Disney channel, not really getting a lot of protesting from Chris, who just wanted to relax and have Darren close. They kept kissing every couple of minutes, but neither pushed any further, the clothes remained on and their hands didn't wander below the waist or even under T-shirts.

They were lost in yet another kiss when suddenly the front door flew open and moments later, Ashley's voice rang through the hall and into the living room.

"Christopher Colfer, you'd better have a good excuse to not be answering my texts and ignoring my calls!" she bellowed, "I've been trying to reach you for hours and don't tell me you were sleeping because I can hear the TV… oh."

She stopped in the doorway and a grin spread over her face at the sight of Chris and Darren snuggled close on the sofa, their cheeks flushed and hair messy.

"Yeah ok, I can accept this excuse," she laughed, "Hi Darren."

"Ashley!" Chris glared, "What are you doing just barging in? What if I was naked or something?"

"Honey, you wear an undershirt the moment you step out of the shower and even in bed," she smirked, "and I wouldn't barge into your bathroom, who do you take me for?"

"I've seen him topless," Darren piped up and winced at the immediate smack on his arm.

"Not helping," Chris grumbled.

"Wait, you saw what?" Ashley's face lit up with curiosity, "I need to hear this," she stated and leaned back in the chair opposite the couch.

Chris pulled away from Darren and sat up, unsuccessfully trying to tame his hair when he noticed Ashley's eyes flick to it. Darren grumbled and sat up too, curling up on the side of the couch.

"See what you did? Now she'll never leave," Chris exclaimed with a playful glare, "no more kisses for you."

"Kisses too? Oooh, this is getting better," Ashley kept giggling at the blush on the men's faces.

"Ashley, please," Chris sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't text back, my phone is… in my bedroom, I think. Did you need anything?"

"Just to question you about last night and the benefit," she said softly, "and if you were OK after it."

"I'm…" Chris took a deep breath, "I'm fine. Darren helped."

"I bet he did," Ashley winked.

"OK,  _not_  like that," Chris' eyes were now full-on glaring.

"I'm sorry, honey," she immediately backtracked, "I was worried, though. I'm glad you had someone who was there for you."

"I did," Chris smiled softly at Darren, "Now, much as I'm going to regret leaving the two of you alone, I know if I don't, you," he pointed at Ashley, "will find a way regardless, so I'm going to," he stood up, "take a shower."

Darren's eyes glazed over for a moment, but long enough for Ashley to notice and raise her eyebrow, making him blush and duck his head. Chris marched out of the room with a glance at both of them and rolled his eyes when he saw the mischievous glint in Ashley's eyes.

"Now," she said when Chris was out of earshot, "consider this my 'You hurt him, I'll kill you' warning," her voice shook with laughter, "though looking at you, I don't think that will happen. Now tell me about this seeing him topless thing."

Darren breathed a sigh of relief, glad he seemed to have the approval of Chris' best friend and mentioned the paintball that Ashley was already told about by Chris. She was intrigued to hear Darren's side of that day and when he confessed he very nearly kissed Chris then already, she chuckled.

"I'm glad you got your shit together, both of you," she stated, "I was beginning to wonder if I would have to interfere. He’s been torturing himself enough."

"What do you mean?" Darren frowned.

"Now, I don't know if you noticed, but Chris does have issues with believing in himself," she said gently and Darren nodded, "he didn't think you'd consider looking at him with interest."

"Well, I do hope admitting I kept auditioning for  _Glee_  to meet him has changed that somewhat," Darren blushed, "though why I'm telling  _you_ , I'll never know."

"I have a gift, I make people confess their deepest, darkest secrets," Ashley grinned, "like the one you're not telling me about this shower and half-naked Chris thing. But I will know one day, Darren. I will find out."

"Are you done with him?" Chris walked in the room, changed into jeans and a T-shirt, hair still damp from the shower.

"For now," Ashley laughed, "now, can I take you boys to lunch?"

"I need to get to my place and change," Darren sighed, getting up from the couch.

"Is there a place we can get food nearby?"

"Yeah, of course," Darren nodded, "or there's always…"

"No, don't even mention the take-out leaflets, I'm already sold on that one," Chris laughed, "wait…" he froze for a moment," will your housemates be there?"

"Joey might," Darren reached for his phone that was on the coffee table, "And apparently I do have to actually be home because  _someone_  can't work the dishwasher."

"Well then," Ashley rubbed her hands together, "let's meet new people."

"It's not like you don't know him from the videos," Chris rolled his eyes.

"You know it's not the same."

"OK," Darren jumped in, "I'll be driving myself, who's with me?"

"Ash?" Chris turned to her, "your car or mine?"

"Mine," she replied quickly, "and you're with me."

"Boo," Chris pretended to be disappointed, "that's no fun."

"Just trying to prevent me getting there before you two do," she winked.

"Seriously, not best friend anymore," Chris grumbled but grinned at her immediately after.

They gathered everything they needed, including Darren's suit that he was going to drop at the dry cleaners on the way, and got into the cars. Chris pulled his phone out straight away and texted Darren that they'd follow him but that Ashley had GPS so he wouldn't need to worry about getting lost.

Ashley tried to pry some more information on the drive over, but Chris remained tight-lipped, throwing her the occasional glare when her questions became blunter than he could stomach. She didn't quite give up, even threatening to ask Darren, which immediately prompted Chris to send a text message that basically said if Darren decided to blab, there would be no date and no discussing bases or progression through them.

"Are you seriously  _already_  blackmailing him with sex even though you didn't have any yet?" Ashley laughed when Chris confessed to the contents of the text and why he laughed at the 'Yes, sir' that flashed on his phone in response.

"None of your business, Fink," Chris glared again and started to fear his face was going to be stuck that way if she continued much longer.

"We're here," she said instead of whatever comeback she'd planned, "La casa de Criss."

"And Richter," Chris added and was suddenly aware of the impending meeting of people who weren't  _just_  Darren's friends.

"Come on," Ashley prompted him, "it will be OK, you've wanted to meet these guys for years."

"I know," Chris whispered, "but meeting them as…"

"You didn't even discuss if you're boyfriends, did you?" Ashley muttered with understanding.

"No, we… it was only this morning and then you came in and…" Chris' voice faded and realization hit him, "what if he doesn't…"

"Christopher, look at me," Ashley commanded and Chris turned his gaze from the hands folded in his lap, "that boy is crazy about you. You'll get a chance to talk about what you are or aren't or call each other in private or to other people. It's just a label, it ultimately doesn’t matter as long as he's  _your Darren_  and you are  _his Chris_."

Chris nodded and tried to make himself believe those words, but the doubt and hesitation didn't go away completely. Not even when Darren came to the passenger door and held out his hand to walk Chris inside. Their fingers remained linked when they entered the sitting room and Chris saw Joey stretched out on the shabby-looking couch, with the TV on and blaring.

"Dare!" the delighted shout came when Darren came into view and Chris couldn't help but chuckle at how similarly childlike the reaction was to Darren's usual ones, "you're here!"

"Well, your panicky text kind of didn't leave me another choice," Darren grinned, "'life or death situation'? Really, Richter?"

"We have no clean dishes," Joey shrugged, "I can't eat and if I don't eat…"

"I was out of the house for  _one night_ ," Darren rolled his eyes.

"But Lauren and Mer were over and they cooked and…"

"And you couldn't have  _them_  load up the dishwasher?"

"Oh," Joey's eyes widened, "I didn't think of that."

"Of course you didn't," Darren sighed, "come on, we'll get this done."

He turned to Chris, leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek and ignored the gasp from Joey and the smirk in Ashley's face.

"Make yourselves at home," Darren shot over his shoulder as he dragged a shocked Joey out of the room.

"So," Ashley settled on the couch and pulled Chris down next to her, "that was cute."

"Shush you," Chris tried to say sternly but the grin in his face gave him away.

"You're all aflutter over the kiss, aren't you?"

Chris leaned back on the couch and realized he had perfect view of the kitchen and specifically the dishwasher. Ashley nudged him when Darren came into view with a load of pots and pans and began loading them in, bending down as he worked.

"Damn," Ashley whispered into Chris' ear, "seriously. Damn, boy, you pick them well."

"Ashley!" Chris didn’t manage to turn around, his eyes stuck on the sight in front of him.

"Think he's doing this on purpose?" she continued, "Because it certainly looks like a show put on especially for you."

"You're a pervert," Chris grumbled.

"Boy, I see a fine ass on display and I'm not going to look away," Ashley laughed, "not like you can keep your eyes from him."

Chris sighed, but his eyes kept flickering to the kitchen though he tried to pay attention to whatever channel Ashley switched the TV to once she got enough ogling in. He only just managed to turn back to the screen when Darren marched back in, a grumbling Joey following.

"It really isn't  _that_  complicated," Darren's eyes were narrowed, "and definitely not an emergency."

"Did I interrupt something important, or something?" Joey shrugged, "it's your day off."

"Exactly," Darren sat down next to Chris and slid his hand to link their fingers, "I had plans."

Joey's eyes flicked from Darren's face to the joined hands to Chris' face and then back to Darren's face, which was slightly redder than a moment earlier.

"Oh," realization dawned on Joey's face, "shit man, sorry."

"Yeah well," Darren shrugged, "this does sort of speed up the introductions."

Chris was frozen in his spot, though he could feel Ashley's poking in his side, but he refused to react. Darren's grip on his hand tightened and he only barely heard as Ashley was introduced first and then Darren's deep intake of breath.

"And this is Chris," Darren's eyes met Chris' who finally lifted his head, "my boyfriend."

Chris' eyes flew wide open and then a smile spread across his lips when he saw Darren cautiously mouth 'is that OK?' and grin when Chris nodded in response.

"Cool meeting you guys," Joey said simply, no surprise visible on his face, "damn, I owe Mer a twenty."

"What?" Darren's head whipped over to his friend," Wait, you guys  _bet_  on me?"

"Are you surprised?"

"No, actually, I'm not," Darren turned back to Chris, "I'm sorry."

"You did survive this one," Chris pointed to Ashley with a chuckle and ducked from a slap she was aiming at the back of his head.

"What?" Chris shrugged, "I'm surprised you didn't bet with Jenna."

"About that…" Ashley looked sheepish.

"Ashley!"

"OK," Darren stood up and pulled on Chris' hand, "I don't know if it's safe to leave the two of you alone for a while, but," he looked pointedly at Joey, "I'm going to pretend you  _can_  behave for a while. Chris, come with me?"

With one look over his shoulder at Ashley, Chris got up and followed Darren out of the sitting room and moments later found himself in Darren's room and heard rather than saw the door slam closed because Darren's lips were on his.

"I'm sorry," Darren whispered when he pulled away, "I just wanted to do that without an audience."

"They'd probably be catcalling," Chris admitted, "Ashley would."

"I'm sorry our day got ruined," Darren sighed and leaned into Chris for a hug.

"Me too," Chris wrapped his arms around Darren, "Do you think we can escape without them being offended?"

"We can try," Darren mumbled, "I'm not above just leaving them  _bonding_ , I want to spend time with you, now that you're my boyfriend."

"About that…"

"Oh," Darren looked up, alarmed, "was that OK? I'm sorry I didn't ask or anything, I just assumed…"

Chris interrupted him with a soft kiss, "it was more than OK. I sort of," a blush crept into his face, "had a bit of a panic moment before we came in. I wasn't sure if that's what we were. Or what you thought we are."

"Chris," Darren lifted his chin and whispered with sincerity, "Would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?"

"Cheesy," Chris grinned and then laughed at Darren's shrug, "of course, though the honor is entirely mine."

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that one," Darren chuckled, "now, we should try and see if our friends will allow us to  _be_  boyfriends and let us have some alone time."

"What do you propose we do?"

"Run for it?" Darren suggested and was rewarded with a giggle.

"How about we go back out there and see where it goes."

"I do need to change," Darren pointed to the sweatpants he was wearing and Chris blushed at the thought of watching Darren undress, "I'll just…" he waved his hand towards the connected bathroom.

Chris watched when Darren grabbed a pair of jeans from a drawer and a T-shirt off a pile of folded clothes, barely looking at what he was taking. A chuckle escaped Chris' lips when Darren emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later because the T-shirt just so happened to be pink. Darren looked down and shrugged, then grabbed his matching sunglasses and slid them into his curls.

"I'm still in favor of running for it," Darren pouted, "much more fun."

Chris shook his head, kissed Darren one more time and then grabbed his hand to pull him back out into the living room. He whispered "let me handle this" into Darren's ear before they walked in and then grinned when he noticed Ashley and Joey in a heated debate over something he didn't even try to figure out.

"Hey guys, we're off," Chris stated and headed immediately for the door, shouting over his shoulder, "You'll be OK, right Ashley?"

"Christopher!" she shouted back at him, "Stop right there," she stood and walked over to them, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Away?"

"Oh no, you two are definitely not," Ashley stated with conviction, " _you_ ," she pointed at Chris, "are coming with me," she was rewarded with a protesting mumble, "and  _you_ ," she glared at Darren, "are going to be a good boyfriend, one that this one deserves," Darren's eyes flew wide open, "and you're going to come up with something romantic," Joey chuckled from the background, "and amazing enough for Chris."

"But…" Chris piped in but Ashley threw her arm around his shoulder and began leading him away.

"No," she said to him but loud enough for Darren to hear "you deserve to be wooed and he'd better do a good job or Jenna's going to have a say in this too."

' _I'm sorry_ ," Chris mouthed to Darren as he was dragged out of the door and almost considered tackling Ashley because the sad puppy look on Darren's face was heartbreaking.

"Do not give in to the sad face," Ashley laughed, "and trust me, this  _will_  be worth it. It's not like I'm planning to keep you two apart forever. I'm giving him two hours, tops, which you can use to tell me all about how in the world you two found yourselves in your house, your clothes and how come I walked in on you kissing."


	15. In Your Eyes

True to Ashley's word, Chris did manage to survive not only the drive back to his place but also the questioning, which from what he could see was immediately texted to Jenna. He knew it should've infuriated him at least a bit, but all he felt was relief that he wouldn't have to deal with the interrogation one more time. Ashley cooed and hugged him at the right moments when he recounted the evening at the benefit and the tension and then the morning.

Just as he was about to get annoyed with her questions about what else had happened between him and Darren, he heard the sound of a guitar from outside.

"He wouldn't…"

"He may have," Ashley laughed, "Boy you were right, he really doesn't do things half-assed, does he?"

Chris walked over to the window leading out to his front yard and blushed furiously. There, in all his glory, was Darren, dressed up to the nines and strumming his guitar just loud enough for Chris to hear.

"Oh god," Chris groaned, hands over his eyes, but he peeked from behind his fingers, a half smile sneaking into his face, "I can't believe he is doing this."

"Enjoy it, honey, you're being courted," Ashley couldn't stop giggling, "It's ridiculous but so utterly adorable."

"Yeah, that’s Darren in a nutshell, let's be honest," Chris sighed as he watched Darren take small steps towards the house; "I suppose I better go out to meet him."

"Yes, you should," Ashley pretty much pushed him out of the door and Chris knew she would be looking out of the window at them.

Darren's singing was clearer once Chris stepped out of the front door but the song could have been anything at all, because it didn't quite register. He couldn't stop the dreamy sigh when he took a few steps towards Darren, trying to play coy and not jump straight into the man's arms. Being serenaded made Chris feel partly, albeit a very small part, embarrassed, but mostly flattered in a way he didn't remember ever feeling before.

He barely noticed the transition Darren made into the next song, but when he did, a smile even bigger than the one he already had on his face tugged on his lips. Out of all the songs, Chris couldn't believe Darren picked this one.

" _What started out as friendship has grown stronger_ ," Darren sang softly and shrugged at the next line not quite fitting their situation, " _I only wish I had the strength to let it show_."

As the song went on, Chris knew he wouldn't be able to resist joining in for one line that resonated with him more than any of the others. When it came closer, he took a deep breath, tried unsuccessfully to shake off the urge to sing along but then gave in.

" _I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might_ ," he sang softly, trying to not overpower Darren, who noticed the way their voices aligned immediately.

They continued singing, Chris jumped in with lines that expressed his thoughts and smiled when Darren changed the one instance of "girl" in the song to "boy". When the song faded out, they both let out the laugh they'd been holding.

"How very Lloyd Dobler of you," Chris smirked when Darren put his guitar down.

"Well, it's no boom box," Darren shrugged, "couldn't find one on short notice, but I hoped you'd appreciate the sentiment."

"I do," Chris' voice faded to a whisper, "that was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"OK, now that's not fair," Darren frowned, "you should be serenaded all the time. I might just randomly burst into song more often from now on."

"Please don't," Chris said dryly, "just… don't."

"But I like singing," Darren pretended to pout.

"I know you do," Chris laughed, "so do I, but public serenades really aren't the best idea."

"Well, I hope you like the rest of my plan better then," the smile was back on Darren's lips, "do you need to tell Mom you're leaving?"

Chris smirked towards the front window, knowing they were being watched, "no, but I do need to get my phone," he sighed and turned to the house, "do I need to change?"

"No," Darren looked over Chris' T-shirt and jeans, "no, you're perfect," he said with enough sincerity that Chris blushed at the implication of it being about more than just his clothes.

"I'll be right back," he said instead of the retort he'd normally have for compliments.

Darren tried not to watch Chris too obviously and then headed back to his car to stash away his guitar.

"That was…" Ashley gaped at Chris when he rushed in and rummaged through the couch for his phone, "OK, that's brownie points times a million, Christopher."

"He doesn't need to earn points with me, Ash," Chris grumbled, "Where's my phone?"

"I know he doesn't," Ashley reached her hand out to rest it on Chris' shoulder to calm him down, "deep breaths, honey. Here's the phone," she pulled it from beneath a DVD case on the coffee table, "now, why are you panicking?"

"First date, Ash," Chris sighed, "I've never  _had_  a genuine first date. Ever. What if…"

"OK, don't even finish that sentence. You're not going to mess up, regardless of what you're thinking," Ashley looked Chris straight in the eyes, "the boy has just  _sung_  for you. He took my suggestion for romance and didn't run with it, he went flying. Enjoy it, then come back and tell me all the dirty details."

Chris managed a shaky laugh and a death glare at the last line, "You're a pervert, Fink."

"Boy, you two are so pretty together, be glad I'm not inviting myself and my camera to your shenanigans," she laughed teasingly.

"And that's my cue to get the hell out," Chris groaned, "Can I leave my house in your hands?"

"I won't cook, I promise," she laughed, "no burning it down. I'll head out to Jenna's soon and we'll be expecting gossip."

"You're incorrigible," Chris laughed.

"Go," she pushed him gently towards the door, "don't make your man wait."

Chris smirked back at her one more time and tried to not  _run_  out of the door.

 

"You're not telling me," Chris sighed with resignation, the words not formed into a question but a statement.

"Have my surprises ever disappointed you yet?"

"No, but that doesn't mean I actually like being surprised. The enjoyment I get out of the content of the surprise has nothing to do with how much I enjoy the lead up to it," Chris muttered, making Darren chuckle.

"You're way too philosophical, maybe I need to distract you with something," Darren's eyebrows rose, "but I doubt singing will be good enough. What else could I possibly do?"

"Oh no, you did  _not_  just make an implication of that," Chris rolled his eyes.

"Whatever do you mean, Christopher?" Darren asked innocently.

"I know your mind is permanently filthy, Darren, don't even try to play it off," Chris was laughing, "you better concentrate on driving. Maybe  _I_  should be the one distracting  _you_ , but I don't particularly want you to crash your beloved car."

"The sentiment is much appreciated and some things can be discussed at a more appropriate time," Darren stated, "now, head out of the gutter, please; you're ruining my romantic afternoon plans."

"Because your mind is so pure and innocent it totally didn't go there," Chris' smirk grew, "Still not sharing what this romantic plan entails?"

"No, you'll have to wait."

"Spoil-sport."

"I'm actually not," Darren stuck his tongue out as he glanced over to Chris, "I am the opposite at the moment."

"Do you have to be right this much?" Chris pouted, "I like being right."

"I know you do. But this time, you're not going to win."

"At all? All afternoon?" Chris teased.

"That's so not what I meant," Darren sighed, "and you know it," he grumbled when he noticed the satisfaction on Chris' face, "and you're making fun of me now. I don't know if I shouldn't just tell Ashley how ridiculously uncooperative you are."

"You wouldn't!" Chris gasped.

"What, tell  _Mom_  on you? Oh yes I would," Darren grinned, "she totally likes me in a 'you're good for Chris and I approve' kind of way."

"Wait until she spends more time with you," Chris responded, "You might not have her undying support all the time."

"Well, I know I won't if you keep grumbling and this won't go well," Darren's face fell a little, "I just want today to be perfect for you. You deserve the best."

"I'm sorry, I'll… sometimes the snark comes out and I can't help it," Chris apologized, "I'll try to rein it in. Unless you're taking me to couples' massage, or something similarly crazy, in which case I reserve the right to judge."

"I'll leave that for the honeymoon," Darren's remark made Chris whip his head around and stare with his jaw dropped then he saw the grin on Darren's lips and let his head fall against the headrest.

The thought didn't, to his own complete surprise, scare him in the slightest, to have thoughts of engagement and marriage and Darren in his mind all of a sudden. What did shake him a little was how nonchalantly Darren threw the line out there, like it was a thing that would happen one day.

' _We only just got together_ ," Chris thought, but quickly realized that they'd been acting like a non-official couple for quite some time before. From the beginning, from the first meeting, Chris remembered the ease with which they'd talked and the feeling of belonging, all those moments ran through Chris again and he suddenly longed to get out of the car and hug Darren. He only just resisted asking Darren to pull over, but the thought didn't leave his mind and was still prodding at him when the car slowed down and eventually came to a stop.

Before Chris even asked the ever-present "where are we?", he nearly jumped out of his door, faced Darren's disappointed face and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend without a word. A second later, once over the initial shock of Chris initiating a hug the way he did, Darren's arms slipped around Chris' waist and he rested his chin on Chris' shoulder.

"Hi," Chris finally whispered, still not letting go.

"Hey," Darren smiled, "what was that about?"

"Me being emotional, I think," Chris laughed softly, "It's just… OK, this will possibly sound a little pathetic," Darren pulled away a little and shot Chris a disapproving glare, "but… I've not had something like this, ever. You… I can't even begin to explain how much it means to me that we are what we are, that you accepted me from the first moment. I just," Chris took a deep breath, "I keep feeling like I should be saying 'thank you' all the time."

"Chris…" Darren's smile was weak, "I'm… I'm sorry that you didn't have this before. That you had to deal with all the bullying and I do wish I could turn time back and do  _something_  to make it better."

"Dare…"

"No, I know I can't. Doesn't stop me wishing I could," Darren sighed, "now, are we done with the impromptu hugs? Not that I mind them, but you’re sort of wrecking my plans to charm you and woo you."

"Oh am I?" Chris giggled, "And how am I doing that?"

"I was going to open the door for you and all that jazz," Darren blushed, "Use some of the old-fashioned manners and hope they work."

"At the risk of sounding even cheesier than usual," Chris's smile brightened, "you had me at hello."

"Did I now?" Darren smirked and chuckled, "Now if I had known that, I could've saved myself plenty of worrying."

"So, I'm curious now," Chris let his hands fall off Darren's shoulders and their fingers linked, "what is the grand plan for today?"

"Food first," Darren motioned towards the sushi place that Chris didn't notice, "I can't let you starve and sushi is something we haven’t, shockingly, done yet."

"Should I bother asking what the rest of the plan is?"

Darren laughed and shook his head, then began walking backwards, unwilling to let Chris' hands go just yet. At Chris' disapproving glare, he reluctantly let one hand go, but held to the other one stronger as they walked into the restaurant.

The lunch passed with banter and laughing, the boys trying to behave themselves so they wouldn't get thrown out for being too loud. Back in the car, Chris relaxed into the seat and for once didn't feel the urge to  _know_ , relishing in the fact that Darren had plans and he could let go and not worry.

"You're quiet," Darren noted a few minutes into the drive, "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm happy," Chris smiled, "I'm genuinely, perfectly happy."

"I'm glad," the reply was barely audible, "That's kind of the plan. Today and long-term. To make you happy."

"You do, Darren," Chris' hand jerked towards Darren's then he reminded himself that it wasn't the best idea while Darren was driving.

"Is it normal that I miss holding your hand?" Chris mused when he realized what his automatic reaction was.

"Well, if it's not, we're both crazy."

"Yeah, I think the jury is still out on that one anyway," Chris laughed, "but hey, I don't mind, normal isn't all that it's cracked up to be," he looked at the places they were passing, "wait, where  _are_  we going? You're not bringing me to Vegas for a quickie wedding, are you?"

"We don't have time for that," Darren said simply, "I did consider bringing you to San Fran, but it's too long a drive and Ashley would kill me if I kidnapped you for a few days. Well, at least this time, we'll do the road trip thing soon though…" Darren hesitated and glanced briefly to a wide-eyed Chris, "if you want, that is."

"This wouldn't be a 'meet the parents' thing, would it?" Chris' face was a little more pale than usual.

"I'm kind of hoping that will happen at some point," Darren shrugged, "Mom's been asking about you."

"You… when did you have a chance to tell your Mom about us?"

"She's the one who's been listening to me since Dublin," Darren's voice was filled with laughter, "I've had the 'when can I adopt him' line thrown at me when she hinted that I'd never get the guts to ask you out."

"You didn't, technically," Chris remarked.

"Thank you for reminding me," Darren rolled his eyes, "I'll never hear the end of that from Chuck, by the way, so I'd appreciate if you kept the Ashley intervention from his ears for a while."

"Yeah, because Joey didn't call him the moment you left the house," Chris' laughter filled the car.

Darren sighed and tried to focus on driving, the good mood a little marred by the jokes he knew he'd have to endure from his brother. Finally, he saw their destination and a brief glance at Chris told him that the secret was out, at least the general idea.

"Sailing?" Chris' shock vibrated through his voice.

"Well, sort of," Darren blushed, "I don't  _have_  a boat or anything, but," he pulled into an empty parking space, "I know someone who knows someone who is heading out and offered to bring us with them."

"Wow," Chris kept staring at Darren with surprised eyes.

"Is that OK?" Darren asked, his tone ridden with insecurity, "I mean, I know you don't like the beach much because of the sun and you being so pale and I didn't want to go with a random walk in a park or something like that. I wanted to do something special for you and I know we won't be alone, but…"

"Sssh, Darren," Chris leaned in and gently pulled Darren's face closer, "It's perfect, you are perfect. Stop fretting."

Darren's relief was so endearingly obvious that Chris could help but push forward a little more and bring their lips together in a soft kiss. There was a word on his mind but at the same time a small voice kept repeating 'too soon' in his thoughts. Then Darren moved a little away and looked like he was steeling himself for something big and life-changing and Chris suddenly found it hard to breathe.

"I… Chris," Darren whispered, "I know this might be too fast and too soon and too much and please tell me if it is, but I have to say it," he held on to Chris' hand, "I like you, as you probably already figured, but it's not just that. I'm falling in love with you. No, wait," he shook his head, "that's not entirely true. I've already fallen in love with you. I just… I thought you should know."

"Darren," Chris rubbed slow circles over Darren's thumb, "I was just thinking the same. I didn't want to rush things, but I am falling in love with you."

"Oh thank God," Darren sighed dramatically and Chris couldn't help but laugh.

"What, did you actually think I'd run?"

"Maybe?" Darren's cheeks turned red.

"Silly boy," Chris rolled his eyes, "I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

"Nowhere else I'd rather be," Darren leaned over and left a small kiss on Chris' lips, "now, let's get this show on the road. Come on, sailor."

"Hey, I'm just here for the ride, no work involved," Chris pouted.

"Guest of honor, I swear," Darren scrambled out of the car; "I can't help but picture you in a uniform now, though."

"Pervert," Chris smacked Darren's arm playfully when they met at the sidewalk and headed towards the gates.

 


	16. Show Me Stars

"That was more fun than I thought it would be," Chris yawned, "a lot of work, though, which you had promised me there wouldn’t be," he grumbled unconvincingly.

"Not my fault," Darren said defensively, "the guys did promise me they'd be easy on you."

"Well, it's not like I'm overworked or anything, but I am tired."

"Too tired?"

"That depends," Chris glanced over to Darren who was back in the driver's seat, "there are things I'm sure I can handle, besides sleep."

"Can you stay awake for a few more hours?"

"Hours?" Chris looked at Darren, alarmed, "Does it involve moving?"

"No, but I wouldn't want you to fall asleep," Darren replied without offering a solid explanation, "We can leave the last part for another day, though. I'll bring you home."

"Oh no, you don't," Chris shot him an annoyed glance, "I'll never sleep if I have that on my mind."

"But you're tired…"

"And I will be even more tired if I get no sleep at all," Chris pouted, "Please tell me?"

"Are you stealing my patented puppy look?"

"Is it working?" Chris queried.

"Ugh, yes," Darren sighed, "I can't resist that face. Are you sure you can stay up a little longer?"

"Yes," Chris affirmed.

"OK, let's go then," Darren turned the key and they pulled out of the car park, "it's a bit of a drive, though."

"Everything is a bit of a drive in LA, Darren," Chris rolled his eyes, "wait," he glanced around, "downtown? Are you crazy?"

"No, trying to  _not_  get stuck elsewhere, so unless you're up for backstreets or an epic detour, you'll manage," Darren laughed.

"Oh no, it's not that, just," Chris bit his lip, "do we have time for a stop? I could do with some Diet Coke."

"I am  _not_  trying to find a parking space in the city, Christopher," Darren stated resolutely.

"OK then," Chris pouted again.

"Your pouting and sad eyes quota is exhausted," Darren laughed.

"I wasn't aware I had one."

"Now you know."

"Maybe I should make one for you," Chris mused.

"That won't work though, because you can't resist my pleading face."

"I hate it when you're right," Chris slumped back against the seat, "it's not fair."

"Awww, see," Darren tried to keep his composure and not giggle; "now you've wasted another pouty face. Maybe I'll take that off your tomorrow's allocation."

"You wouldn't!"

"No," Darren finally let out the laugh he was holding back, "No, I wouldn't."

"Are you going to tell me where you're taking me?"

"Stars, Christopher. That's the only hint you're getting."

"Hollywood Boulevard?"

"Nope," Darren laughed, "seriously, I'm going for romantic…"

"…and cheesy," Chris added unhelpfully, making Darren pout.

"…and potentially a little overboard and borderline cheesy," Darren said, the sulking tone seeping through his voice, "and you think I'd take you to a tourist spot?"

"Tell me then," Chris challenged.

"No, you'll see soon enough."

Chris continued to pout and started fiddling with the radio so as not to ask Darren every minute or so where they were going. None of the songs caught his attention though so a few minutes later he gave up, turned the music off and stared out of the window, until the surroundings began registering with him.

"Wait, are we going…?"

"Oh hello there," Darren smirked, "I thought you weren't talking to me."

"I just didn't want to keep asking," Chris grumbled, "but are we going to Griffith Park?"

"Maaaaaybeee," Darren drew the word out with a smile on his face and laughed when Chris bounced in his seat, "And now that you're like this, I would have to change my plans regardless."

"But," Chris frowned, "aren't we late for the observatory?"

"No," Darren sighed in defeat, "And now that  _the surprise_  is ruined," he shot a glance at Chris, "They're not closing until ten o'clock, so we have plenty of time."

"Great," Chris attempted to sound less like an over-excited child, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away.

"Oh don't even try," Darren laughed at him, "I am glad I got this one thing right."

"More than right," Chris said happily, "I've been trying to talk Ashley into going, but she keeps saying it's boring. It's  _stars_ , the entire universe, how can it be boring?"

"Don't ask me, I love the place."

"How come we didn't do this before?"

"I don't know, maybe so I could make our date that much better by us going now?"

Chris looked over and didn't say anything until Darren pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car, their hands joining the moment they were close enough to reach. The park was quiet, though there were still people milling about, most heading back to their cars. Darren pulled Chris across the pathway to the building and kept quietly chuckling at his boyfriend's enthusiasm all the way to the ticket booth.

 

"Thank you," Chris mumbled into Darren's neck quietly, in between yawns.

They were cuddled on the couch in Chris' living room, covered with a blanket that Darren threw over Chris moments earlier when the air began to feel that little bit too cold.

"Would the day pass through Ashley's 'romancing like Chris deserves' guidelines?" Darren teased.

"I don't care," Chris replied, "It passed my 'this was the best day ever' guidelines. Not that I had any."

"Good to know  _now_  that I didn't have standards to live up to," Darren chuckled, "come on, babe, let's get you to bed."

"Hmm, promising, but I'm too tired."

"Christopher," Darren pretended to be outraged, "Such a filthy mind. I mean tuck you in under your covers and I'll head back home."

"I don't want you to," Chris whined, "Can you stay?"

"You are genuinely inviting me into your bed… again, might I add, two nights in a row?"

"Cuddles," Chris sighed as he untangled himself from under the fuzzy blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders when he stood up, "Come on, you know you want to."

Darren nodded, unable to resist Chris' pleading face and the way he looked with his hair all mussed up and eyes half-closed.

"OK, come on then, sleep time, Aurora."

"Did you just…?" Chris turned around, "Are you comparing me to a princess?"

"Sleeping Beauty," Darren sighed, "I'll happily call you Ariel when we're swimming. It's  _not_  because I think you're a girl, Colfer."

"Why then?" Chris challenged as Darren's comparison hit a nerve.

"It's because," Darren cupped Chris' cheek gently; "I think you're beautiful."

Chris immediately leaned into the touch and then into the kiss when Darren's lips ghosted over Chris' mouth softly. A yawn interrupted them and Darren immediately began steering Chris towards the bedroom.

"I promise you're not boring," Chris mumbled sleepily, "Kissing you is anything but boring, can we do it some more?"

"After you sleep some, OK?" Darren whispered when they got to the bed and Chris fell straight on top of the bedspread, "Now, let me tuck you in and then…"

"…then you can come cuddle me," Chris finished as he was sliding under the covers, only just managing to kick off his shoes.

"Jeans, Chris?" Darren raised his eyebrow, "You'll be ridiculously uncomfortable sleeping in them."

Chris only hummed and a moment later the denim flew across the room, in the vague direction of the laundry basket by the bathroom door.

"Pajamas?" Darren offered but Chris just curled under the sheets.

"No. Come here?"

Darren sighed, tossed the pajama pants onto a chair at Chris' desk, slid his hoodie and jeans off and crawled under the covers on the empty side of the bed. The moment he was covered, Chris scooted closer and nudged at Darren's side. Darren took the hint, shifted closer so he was wrapped around Chris, hands tight on the narrow waist.

"Sweet dreams," Darren whispered and heard a hum instead of a reply.

He listened to Chris' breath that was evening out almost immediately, the rhythmical sound occasionally threatening to develop into a soft snore, which made him chuckle. And though he didn't feel like he was tired, soon enough the steady sounds were lulling Darren to sleep.


	17. Just an Ordinary Day

The following days they found themselves falling into a comfortable routine and Darren realized that despite his usual constant craving for change, he actually relished in knowing that Chris would text or call him every day, unless Darren got to do it first. They spent every free moment and some busy ones together and Ashley called them out on becoming co-dependent, but neither of them cared. Everything they had was new and exciting, so they didn't fight the urge to be together.

"I'll never get tired of this," Darren grinned happily.

He was sprawled out on the couch, head on Chris' lap and enjoying the feeling of Chris' fingers in his curls. They were both in the middle of writing, Chris editing his next book and Darren mulling over lyrics, which he conveniently could do from Chris' lap. Darren smiled softly at Chris.

"What?" Chris asked not really paying attention as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

"Just, this, being with you and not doing anything much," Darren lifted his hand and slid it between Chris' back and the couch, rubbing along the sliver of skin between Chris' jeans and T-shirt, "I've never been this comfortable in my life."

"You're just lucky that you're short, so you actually  _fit_ ," Chris chuckled, his mind still on the scene he was working on.

"We'd just have to get a bigger couch," Darren noted, "maybe I'll grow and we'll have to."

The casual use of  _we_  was what finally tore Chris' mind off his characters and he looked to Darren, who seemed like he didn't realize what he'd said and how it could've been interpreted. Chris told himself that it wasn't intentional and probably just a slip of the tongue that made him hope that Darren wasn't thinking of what they had as a casual fling. It wasn't unusual anymore for remarks like that to find their way into what Darren said but Chris was still wary about the future.

"I don't think you need to worry about that one, honey," Chris whispered affectionately, "unless you actually are the child you make a good impression of being sometimes, I think you're past the 'random growth spurt' stage."

"I should be offended, shouldn't I?" Darren asked not really looking for an answer, "How's the scene going?"

"Well, it's not, now that you've distracted me," Chris laughed.

"I'm… sorry?" the tone made it clear that Darren was anything but apologetic, "Is it playtime?"

"It's always playtime for you," Chris' hands stretched over his head once he shoved the laptop off the edge of the coffee table towards a steadier spot in the middle, "But I sense a plan."

"Not this time," Darren's eyes wandered over Chris' chest, "I just…"

Instead of continuing to talk, Darren turned over and rose onto his knees, then leaned over to Chris and brushed his lips over Chris'. The reaction from Chris was immediate and the kiss deepened quickly, their hands finding their way into each other's hair. Chris slid back on the couch, his legs finding their spot around Darren's as they stretched across the length of the sofa, their bodies aligning despite the height difference. Darren moaned into Chris' mouth when he felt a hand slide down the length of his spine and a finger tuck into the back of his jeans.

They'd taken things slowly, almost excruciatingly so, with exploring more than kisses, each touch a new cherished experience, though they both had some making out practice. Somehow, with Chris, each new boundary broken felt like the first time, whether it was the discovery that Darren was partial to having his curls tugged on and generally played with during kissing or that Chris' scar on the side of his neck was actually a really sensitive spot when Darren's tongue ran over it. Every time Chris found a new spot like that on Darren's body, the reactions were enough to tell Chris that he did.

When Chris' hand reached lower and his fingers slid into the back pockets on Darren's jeans to pull him closer, a loud moan echoed through the room, rolling off Darren's mouth. Chris couldn't resist trying to spread his hand across Darren's ass and soon both Chris' hands were in the same place below Darren's waistband.

"Chriiiis," Darren whined as Chris continued to squeeze and touch and pull closer, "Stop teasing, please."

Wordlessly, Chris slipped his hands back out of the denim pockets and tried to sit up underneath the warm body that was hovering over him."Don't go," Darren mumbled into Chris' neck he was running his lips over.

"I'm… come on, bedroom," Chris muttered, still trying to squirm away.

"Really?" Darren's expression was a mix of excited and cautious, but the unmistakable eagerness made Chris grin cheekily.

"Wouldn't you prefer to be more comfortable?" he asked Darren with a clear invitation in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess your bed is a little more suitable for making out," Darren nodded and moved off Chris so they could both sit and then stand up.

"Not entirely what I meant," Chris whispered into Darren's ear, then immediately stood up and walked towards the bedroom, his T-shirt hitting the floor on the way.

Darren's eyes widened and he nearly tripped over the coffee table in his haste to follow Chris to his room. The T-shirt was still covering Darren's upper body when he only just stopped himself from bouncing into Chris' room. The sight that met him on Chris' bed almost took Darren's breath away because he didn't really expect Chris to take such a leap.

Usually, they'd go through every touch they knew was pleasant, building up to any next step they felt was appropriate. The most they had done so far still didn't require their clothes to be removed beyond their tops, which in Chris' case meant there was still an undershirt covering whatever Chris thought needed to be covered. This time, though, Chris was lying on his bed, covers pushed to the side and he wore nothing but his underwear, making Darren's breath catch.

"Less staring, more catching up, Dare," Chris laughed at Darren's hungry expression.

Darren nodded and moments later, his T-shirt was flying across the room and shoes were kicked off into the corner as he walked purposefully towards the bed. Chris kept smiling at him and when Darren finally reached the bed, Chris sat up and immediately began fumbling with the buttons on Darren's dark jeans. He pulled the belt out of the loops first and tossed it away, then slid the jeans down past Darren's thighs. When they pooled around his ankles, Darren kicked the pants off, not caring where they landed. His thoughts were blurry, the only focus point was "get to Chris", which he did without hesitation. Chris' head landed against the pillows with a soft thump and a moan followed as Darren leaned over him, their lips sliding against each other. Darren let his tongue slide over Chris' bottom lip, then nibbled on it gently, hearing a soft gasp escape Chris' mouth as the warm air that accompanied it sent shivers down Darren's spine.

Despite his better intentions, Darren's hips ground down into Chris', both desperate for more points of contact. Chris could almost feel the distance between their bodies as Darren held himself up, not letting himself lean on top of Chris, but every sliver of skin that touched made Chris feel like fire was igniting in those spots.

"Darren…" Chris breathed out heavily, "I… closer," he whispered and his hands moved around Darren's torso, pulling him lower.

He saw and felt Darren's arms shake because he was still trying to hold his weight off of Chris, so he pulled firmer, wanting to feel the warmth of Darren's body on his, the weight of muscles against his own.

"I don't want to crush you," Darren mumbled into Chris' mouth, still cautious.

"You won't," Chris replied, "I want to… please."

"OK…" Darren gave in, letting his hips fall, "OK…"

They continued kissing, breathless and heated, as their legs slotted around each other, the sensation new but familiar somehow, the skin on skin contact making their closeness that little bit more intimate to their usual making out. Darren felt the blood rush below his waist and sweat appeared on his skin as he tried to hold himself back from grinding into Chris, because he didn't want to overstep. That flew out of the window when Chris did two things at the same time: slid his hands over the flimsy fabric of Darren's shorts to press down and pushed his own hips upwards, making it obvious he was just as turned on as Darren.

"Fuck," Darren's head fell into the pillow next to Chris' ear, his lips brushing over Chris' collarbone.

"Please…" Chris moaned as his hips continued to jerk upwards into Darren, "Dare… please…"

"Chris, I…"

"Let go," Chris whispered, his body arching into Darren's, "I want…"

"What do you want, Chris?" Darren asked, ideas of what  _he_  wanted taking a form in his mind.

Darren was still trying to keep his body above Chris', but his arms felt unsteady and when Chris managed to notice, he pushed against Darren's shoulder and rolled along until they were on their sides. He hooked a leg around Darren's and immediately his hips pushed forward into Darren's crotch, making them both groan when their cocks touched.

"This… you," Chris repeated the movement.

The fabric layers between them provided the tiniest bit of friction and Darren suddenly knew that he wouldn't be able to hold off either grinding into Chris or coming embarrassingly early. But the concern was forgotten when Chris' head fell back, his lips slightly open and his breath coming in short bursts, its rhythm matching the hip movements.

"You're…  _fuck_ , Chris," Darren gasped and his lips slid over Chris' neck.

He was rewarded with a string of curse words that sent shockwaves down his spine and made his fingers dig into Chris' lower back. It only took one flick of his tongue over the skin below Chris' ear and down to his collarbone and Darren felt the shaking of Chris' muscles. He knew Chris was holding back, but he felt his own orgasm coming at him from all sides, the touch of Chris' fingers on his ass burning trails as they slid around and pressed in.

"Let go, babe," Darren whispered into Chris' ear as he crossed the threshold of holding back, "I'm…"

Before he could voice anything, Chris shook and gripped Darren tighter, closed his lips over Darren's shoulder and with one last grind into Darren's hips moaned his climax into his skin. Darren followed immediately after, the heat rushing across his body as he groaned and shook, closing his eyes as the aftershocks made him shiver.

"Fuck… that was," Darren muttered a few moments later, "extremely embarrassingly fast, actually. I'm… sorry," he whispered, still catching his breath.

"Not like I did much better," Chris chuckled nervously, "I swear I'm not a teenager anymore."

"I know you're not," Darren brushed the hair off Chris' forehead and kissed him gently, "clean up time?"

"In a moment," Chris' voice stayed quiet, "I… can I just…"

Darren understood without Chris finishing the thought and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, soft kisses cutting off all talking for a while.

"OK, yuck, definitely clean up time now," Chris squirmed eventually, following it with a laugh.

"Don't wanna," Darren mumbled into Chris' neck, "comfy."

"How, Darren?" Chris questioned but didn't try moving too convincingly.

"You're close," Darren said simply, "'s all I want."

"Charming," Chris laughed, "But I'm sticky."

"Love you anyway," Darren whispered, "I do," he lifted his head to make it clear to Chris it wasn't just a result of their making out, "I really love you. I'm done falling, I'm there, I love you. I should've told you before so you don't question me, but I can't… I need you to know."

"Darren…" Chris sighed, "Dare, I love you too."

"Love you," Darren sighed in relief and kissed Chris softly, "love you, love you, love you."

Chris let out a giggle as Darren rolled over until he was on top of Chris, still kissing him and still muttering 'I love you' between the kisses.

"You're crazy," Chris finally managed to say when Darren took a breath, "I love your crazy side. I love all your sides, really."

"Even the one that drags you out for surprises? Or the one that distracts you from work?"

"Uh-huh," Chris nodded, " _all_  of them."

"Tell me," Darren pleaded, "I… tell me."

"Love you," Chris said and pressed his lips up into Darren's, "I love you," he whispered into Darren's ear, then rolled them over and hovered over his boyfriend's body, "I love you," he said one more time and kissed Darren hungrily.


	18. Afraid to Fall

"Did you tell him?" Ashley poked Chris when they were out for lunch a few days later.

"What?" Chris asked without really paying attention as he chewed on his burger.

"Christopher!" the tone of her voice made his eyes snap up and he was met with a glare.

"What?" he frowned, confused.

"Don't be dense, Colfer," she rolled her eyes, "you love him, don't you?"

Chris nodded mutely, gulping down his latest bite, cheeks flushing.

"Did you  _tell him_?"

Another nod followed and Ashley only just stopped herself from clapping when a thought crossed her mind.

"Wait, did he say it back? Or did you not tell me because he doesn't feel the same? Because I doubt he doesn't, but…"

"No Ash," Chris smiled, "he… he did say it back. He loves me," Chris' face gave away that he still wondered how it was possible.

"Honey," Ashley reached across the table to hold Chris' hand, "of course he does," she reassured, "you can see it in his face. I'm happy for you, boo."

"I just…" Chris was suddenly overcome with fear, "telling you makes it real. And I…"

"It  _is_  real and it is your life," Ashley smiled, "I know you've been though crap, but honey this is your happiness."

"I'm still afraid he'll… that I just imagined…"

"Oh Chris," Ashley moved across the booth to sit next to Chris and wrapped her arm around him.

Chris let his head fall against her shoulder and as his fears washed over him, Ashley continued to hold him and reassure him, whispering softly.

"Are you moving in on my man, Fink?" Darren's cheerful voice suddenly cut through the tension, "Chris?" the tone changed to an alarmed one as soon as Darren noticed Chris' expression, "what's wrong?"

"I'll see you later, honey," Ashley whispered into Chris' ear, "tell him, OK?" she added before she slid out of the booth.

"Ash?" Darren questioned with his eyes wide and filled with worry.

"It'll be OK," she muttered, trying to not let Chris hear, "make him tell you. Love him."

"I do," Darren smiled cautiously.

"I know," she ruffled Darren's hair, "I know. That's all he needs. I'll see you later, boys," she said the last sentence louder and waved, then walked away, leaving them to talk.

"Babe?" Darren slid in next to Chris, "talk to me."

"I…" Chris sighed, his tears on the verge of falling, "I… don't know."

"You do," Darren lifted Chris' chin to make their eyes meet, "I love you," he smiled gently, "what's worrying you, babe?"

Chris let out a breath and let his head fall against Darren's shoulder, unconsciously looking for reassurance. Darren could see the insecurity seeping from Chris' expressions and movements and wrapped his arm around the shaky shoulders next to him.

"I just… you're gonna laugh at me," Chris mumbled.

"Chris," Darren lifted his shoulder to nudge Chris up and make him look up, "look at me, please," Chris blinked a few times when their eyes met, noticing the concern in Darren's eyes, "what's got you on edge?"

"It's my head," Chris kept his voice quiet, like he was afraid of his own thoughts, "I can't… I'm…"

"Please talk to me, babe," Darren caressed Chris' cheek, "you're scaring me a little, love."

"I'm afraid," Chris finally managed to say out loud.

"Afraid of what?"

"It's just… this," Chris waved his hand between Darren and himself, "us. It's… I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like it's too good to be true."

"I love you, you know that, right?" Darren whispered before he kissed Chris with as much care as he could pour into one touch of their lips, "I'm not going anywhere. I'd be an idiot to let you go."

"But what if…"

"No," Darren put a fingers across Chris' lips, "No 'what if's, Chris."

"But…"

"OK," Darren stopped Chris from saying more, "how about we take this home and talk properly?"

Chris nodded, his mind still reeling with worry, though a little more reassured by little things like that Darren immediately reached for his hand when they both got out of the booth and dropped a kiss on Chris' shoulder when they stopped by the till to pay. The drive, in Darren's car because Ashley drove Chris earlier, was silent but not uncomfortable despite Chris' mood still a little low. Once they got to Chris' house, the fact that Darren had referred to it as 'home' registered with Chris and brought a small smile onto his lips.

"Come here," Darren settled on the couch and waved Chris over, letting him lie back with his head on Darren's thigh.

"This feels oddly like therapy," Chris muttered with a mildly sarcastic laugh.

"I do kind of want you to talk to me," Darren replied, his fingers tangling in Chris' hair immediately, "maybe it'll help?"

"Maybe," Chris said unconvincingly.

"Come on, babe, what's making you all blah?"

"I just… I've never…" Chris took a breath and decided to just throw his worries out there, "I never thought I'd have  _this_. Someone like you, the things that we do and especially not the way you feel about me. I've resigned myself to unrequited crushes and to knowing it'd always be that way. And then," Chris looked up at Darren with a smile, "you came along and… I guess I'm still waiting for something to go wrong."

"I wish I knew a way to stop you feeling like that," Darren whispered, "I love you. I really do and I'll keep telling you and showing you until you believe me."

"I love you too. And I'm…"

"No," Darren interrupted Chris, "don't apologize, please. There's nothing to apologize for."

"But… I shouldn't be questioning you, or us."

"I'll just need to work more on reassuring you," Darren smiled, "You should prepare yourself for overwhelmingly cheesy displays of affection."

"Oh man," Chris groaned, "you're going to embarrass me, aren't you?"

"Maybe," Darren winked, "Serenades aren't really your thing, are they?"

"No," Chris cringed, "any overly crazy displays of affection…"

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Darren grinned, "No promises on that front, though. I love you."

"Love you too," Chris snuggled closer into Darren's thigh, relishing in the feeling of his hair being tousled by Darren's fingers, "I love this."

"Me too," Darren nodded and found Chris' hand with his free one, playing with the long fingers until Chris relaxed into the touch, "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Can we just stay like this for a while?"

"Of course we can."

 

Darren kept his word with the promise to keep showing Chris how much he cared and wasn't letting go. There was a steady stream of mostly home-made gifts, from cute messages on Post-Its to cheesy but adorable random serenades, kept to the privacy of either of their houses to Chris' relief. There were moments when Chris was almost there, almost stopped worrying about how long it would take before Darren would walk away, but there was still that seed of doubt that wouldn't disappear.

"Tell me about it," Darren whispered into Chris' ear one Sunday morning, when they were wrapped in each other's arms while the sun was rising, having just come back from a road trip to Clovis to visit Chris' family that Darren had organized.

"Tell you about what?" Chris asked sleepily.

"About what happened in Clovis that still has you doubting me."

"Darren…"

"Look, I know it's not something you want to revisit," Darren pulled Chris closer, "But I've noticed, when we were there. I saw how you cringed at just the  _sign_  by the roadside."

"It's not…" Chris buried his face into Darren's neck for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "It's not that I don't  _want_ you to know. I just wish sometimes I could forget."

"I know, babe," Darren said soothingly, "Maybe… did you ever talk about it to anyone? Ashley or Jenna?"

"Not in detail. They both know Clovis sucks, but not… there was no point telling them things that related to relationships."

"I won't push you," Darren kept his voice low, but steady, "But I feel like you're still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for me to bail."

"I am, kind of," Chris mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'll just need to work harder at convincing you," Darren laughed softly, "Maybe it's time to consider public displays of affection."

"Please don't," Chris groaned while Darren continued to chuckle, "I'd rather revisit the hell that was high school."

"I'm not that bad at singing!"

"No, but I'm that bad at being the centre of attention."

"The signings must've been a torture for you then."

"You have no idea how long it took Alla to convince me. She only won that battle because the majority of people at the signings were under the age of twelve."

"I'm sort of glad to know that I'm special."

"You would," Chris rolled his eyes, "But… you have a point."

"About what?"

"I should tell you. About why I'm… afraid."

Darren nodded, waiting for Chris to elaborate. A few moments and several deep breaths later, Chris started talking. He told Darren about the bullies he'd had to put up with in school, before he packed up and moved to Los Angeles. He explained about the constant insults about things he wasn't even sure about himself, about being told that he'd never have anyone to love him, because everyone else in town was "normal" and not a freak like him. He told Darren about how those words still kept haunting him, no matter how much he tried to not let them.

They both cried and hugged when Darren listened to things he'd only heard from people he wasn't as close to. Eventually, they fell asleep again, exhausted from the confession, Darren murmuring 'I love you' into Chris' ear until he drifted off. When they woke up again, Chris felt a little better, like saying it all out loud has made the words less significant. Darren was still wrapped tight around him and Chris smiled when he shifted and Darren's arms immediately pulled him closer.

"I'll convince you," Chris heard the whispered words, "I'm not letting you go."


	19. Moves Like You

"Chris!" Ashley shouted at him from the front door.

He was at her place for the weekend, because she'd complained that they didn't spend that much time together anymore. They really hadn’t. Chris had to admit he'd got more than a little caught up with Darren, maybe even becoming a little clingy, though Ashley did reassure him it wasn't as bad as Chris thought. But Darren was in New York visiting Chuck and Chris wondered if the visit had been planned so that he'd have no excuse from spending time with Ashley. Jenna was supposed to join them too, later in the day and they were heading out to a club in the evening, despite Chris' protests about having to dress up when he was hoping for a quiet movie night.

"What's up, Ash?" he peeked out from the kitchen.

"Someone's being romanced," she grinned as she spoke a sing-song voice, "someone looooves you!"

"Oh God, what did he do now?" Chris groaned without any real annoyance in the question.

"Well there are flowers," Ashley went though the delivery that had arrived moments earlier; "oh there are some for Jenna and I too. I'll give that to him, the boy  _is_  good."

"Aww, cute," Chris cooed as he brought his own small bouquet to his nose, breathing in the smell of the roses.

"Chocolate! Chris!"

"Uh-oh," Chris laughed, "I'll be fighting you for that one, won't I?"

"Nope," she smirked, "I did say the boy is good. There's enough for both of us  _and_ for Jenna."

"She'll be glad she gave in to your nagging about going out then."

"I am glad," Jenna stepped in through the hallway, as the front door had been left open, "now, are we ready to go wild?"

"No," Chris grumbled, "Don’t wanna."

"You do, honey, it's dance time," Jenna nudged him, "Come on, it'll be fun!"

Chris relented and they began to get ready, deciding to keep their outfits simple and comfortable as none of them were out to impress anyone, just to have fun. Darren texted throughout their process and offered random completely unhelpful hints on what Chris should and shouldn't wear. They eventually made it out of the door and to a nightclub, though Chris continued to list reasons why he didn't really feel like going through the entire cab ride there.

Once he was on the dance floor, his mood lifted and he joined the girls for their borderline crazy routines, even flashing back to some of their dance numbers from  _Glee_  with Jenna, who was a more than willing participant. Chris thought nothing much of Ashley watching him with increased curiosity until his phone buzzed in his pocket and he opened it to a text message from Darren.

(11:20pm)  _Are you trying to give people a heart attack?_

(11:25pm) What have I done now?

(11:25pm)  _Oh, oops. Nevermind._

(11:26pm) Oh no, now you HAVE TO explain yourself, Darren.

Chris sipped on the drink he got when he broke off the dancing a few minutes earlier, partly to catch his breath and partly to text Darren back.

(11:27pm)  _Ask Ashley._

"Fink!" Chris shouted at her across the booth she'd snagged earlier, "What have you done?"

"Oh," Ashley had the decency to blush a little, "Just showing Darren some of your best moves."

"Again, I ask," Chris slid closer to her, "What. Have. You. Done?"

Ashley held out her phone to him a moment later, after pressing a few buttons with a focused look on her face, revealing a series of pictures of Chris on the dance floor.

"You…" Chris gaped at her in shock.

"What?" she shrugged, "I figured he'd appreciate the sight, since he can't be here."

(11:30pm) I do apologize for the wannabe paparazzi.

"How do you even have his phone number?" Chris glared.

"I have ways and means, Christopher."

"Of course you do," Chris was about to drop his face into his hands when the phone buzzed at him again.

(11:31pm)  _Don’t. I just wish I was there right now. Those jeans are…_

(11:32pm) Are you going to finish that thought?

(11:33pm)  _No. Maybe. Not over a text._

(11:34pm) Now I'm even more curious.

(11:35pm)  _Patience, young padawan._

(11:36pm) Tease. :P

"Chriiiiis," Ashley nudged him, "come on, you gotta dance to this!"

"Oh no," Chris groaned when he heard the song and saw Jenna's inviting hand, "no, just no. I still have nightmares from that outfit!"

"Pretty please? It was so much fun to do that!"

Chris eventually caved and let Jenna drag him onto the dance floor just as the chorus came in and they immediately fell into the well-rehearsed steps that had been drilled into them. As the last few notes sounded and Chris tried to catch his breath, he thought he glimpsed Ashley lowering her phone and shot a glare in her direction, then headed over to her.

"You didn't…" he began to tell her off for filming their dance, but the insistent buzzing of his phone got his attention diverted.

"Are you kidding me?" Darren's voice came from the earpiece when Chris answered his phone, "Where... How… OK, I know those, but… holy shit, Chris!"

"Darren?" Chris pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure he saw the caller ID right, "Sweetie, are you OK?" he asked through Darren's continued incoherent babbling.

"Ashley just Face-Timed me and showed me what you were up to on the dance floor," Darren managed to get out in one breath.

Chris immediately whipped his head around to Ashley and mimicked his anger to her by doing a throat-slicing motion with his hand. She shrugged and dragged Jenna off to the bar, the two of them giggling enough to make Chris think they'd planned all this.

"You… fuck, Chris, that was a whole new level of hot," Darren sighed into the phone, "Why am I not there?"

"Because Chuck's apparently better company?" Chris laughed, buzzing a little from the drinks the girls decided he had to have.

"Yeah, that was a rather stupid decision," Darren grumbled, "damn it. We are so going clubbing when I'm back. And you will so dance that so I can see you better than through a grainy dark video."

"I may need a good motivation for that," Chris giggled.

"Are you drunk, Christopher?" Darren gasped mockingly, "Did you just… flirt?"

"Maaaaybe…" Chris laughed into the phone, "Though I should probably be offended that you think I would only flirt when or because I'm drunk."

"OK, you're not drunk," Darren stated, "No way is anyone as coherent as you at the moment when they've been drinking."

"I have been, I just kept away from tequila, because that would've ended up in a disaster."

"Tell me more about that," Darren grinned, "or wait, don't tell me, we'll go out when I'm back and have a tequila night."

"Oh no we won't."

"But Chris, think of the body shots!" Darren almost pleaded, "That would be so much fun!"

Chris' imagination immediately took over and the idea of body shots branded itself into his brain immediately.

"Damn you!" he muttered into the phone.

"You want to now, don't you?" Darren laughed.

"Wait," Chris blinked as a thought hit him, "Have  _you_  been drinking?"

"Sadly, no," Darren grumbled, "but, I'm in Chuck's house, in the guest room by myself, and I may have been thinking of you just before you texted. And while we did. And when Ashley showed me your dancing skills."

"Thinking of me… how?" Chris realized his usual filter wasn't holding up against both the alcohol  _and_  Darren's words.

"Are you still in the club?" Darren asked cautiously.

"Yeah," Chris' voice gave away his disappointment.

"We can… you can call me when you get home? If it's not too late."

"It will be for you, honey," Chris said quietly, "Another day, maybe?"

"Tomorrow?" Darren asked with hope seeping through the voice.

"We'll see," Chris laughed at the eagerness, but couldn't deny being intrigued by the idea, "you're being a tease, though."

"Babe, I'm not the one who is wearing skin-fucking-tight jeans and gyrating on the dance floor where everyone can see me. Well," Darren groaned, "everyone  _but_  a certain someone who would kill to be in LA right now."

"Oh please don't," Chris' laughter continued, "I don't think you could pull of orange and I don't think we could manage conjugal visits. Plus, you're too pretty to be thrown into places where your ass would be such a temptation."

"And my ass is yours anyway," Darren joined in the laugh, then added seriously, "all of me is… yours, that is."

"Christopher!" Ashley yelled though she was standing at the table, "Stop talking to lover-boy and come dance some more!"

"I'm apparently being summoned," Chris groaned into the phone, "I wish you were here, I want to dance with you."

"We'll do that when I get back," Darren insisted, "I want to feel you dancing close to me."

"Darren!" Chris protested, "You can't just… you saying that…"

"Well, you can always imagine it's me you're dancing with," Darren's laugh turned into a moan, "When it's a slow song, you can think of me against you…"

"Babe," Chris' eyes closed, the images now extremely vivid in his brain, "how am I supposed to even stand up when you're telling me things like this?"

"Colfer! Come on!" Ashley tugged on Chris' sleeve.

"OK, OK, I'm coming," Chris glared at her.

"You better not be," Darren chuckled darkly, "But I might, thinking about you dancing."

"Shit, Darren, please," Chris held back a moan, "OK, I'm going, and we'll continue this later."

"Love you, babe," Darren managed to say through gritted teeth, "Miss you."

"Miss you too," Chris bit his lip, "I love you. I'll text you later, OK?"

"OK, I'll be waiting."

Chris pulled the phone from his ear with a disappointed sigh then looked up at Ashley, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Naughty boy," she giggled, "You looked like you were having phone sex there for a while."

"Ashley!"

"She's right," Jenna who appeared behind him agreed, "What were you up to, Chris?"

"Nothing," Chris blushed immediately, "Nothing at all."

"Convincing," Ashley rolled her eyes, "Come on, I can take some pictures to send to Darren for… inspiration."

"Oh God, why do I bother with the two of you?" Chris rubbed his face.

"You love us," Jenna piped in, "Obviously not as much as someone else there…"

"Let's just go dance some more," Chris interrupted her, embarrassment still making him cringe, "You'll talk way less when you're busy."

The girls grabbed one of his hands each and pulled him to the dance floor where they immediately fell into the rhythm of the song that played, one of the generic dance tunes that drowned out most of Chris' thoughts to his relief. They kept dancing for another few hours until Ashley and Jenna both started complaining of tiredness and Chris felt his muscles aching, unused to the amount of movement he'd done. Jenna nearly fell asleep on his shoulder and they dropped her off first, then the cab stopped at Chris' house and with a promise to text him when she got home, Ashley hugged him and took off to her place.

(2:12am)  **I'm home. Are you sexting it up yet?**

(2:12am) Thank you. And no.

(2:13am)  **Why not? It seemed to be going that way earlier.**

(2:14am) Because I'm tired. And he's probably asleep anyway, it's like 5am in New York.

(2:15am)  **Silly boy. Did you text him at all?**

(2:15am) No. Go to sleep, Fink.

(2:16am)  **Text him at least or he'll worry.**

(2:16am) What would he worry about?

(2:17am)  **A million things. That you didn't go home alone, for one.**

(2:17am) WHAT?

(2:18am)  **Come on, you were hot on the dance floor, Colfer. He did make me promise I'd keep guys away from you.**

(2:19am) He did what?

(2:20am)  **Talk to him, Chris. The boy was jealous as hell. Text him.**

(2:20am) OK.

(2:21am) Hey, Dare. Just got home. Hope I don't interrupt any sweet dreams ;)

(2:25am)  _The only dreams I have are about you, so no interrupting, really. Remind me to thank Ashley for the visuals, by the way._

(2:26am) Just how many pictures did she send you?

(2:27am)  _Enough to tide me over until I see you again._

(2:28am) I'll kill her.

(2:28am)  _Oh no you won't. I need her to supply me with photos of this hot guy she was out with tonight._

(2:29am) She was? I didn't see anyone, I heard New York is hottie central nowadays.

Chris' phone rang moments after he hit send on the latest text message and the ringtone sound made him jump when it disturbed the silence in his bedroom.

"Hey babe," Darren yawned, "how did the rest of the night go?

"How are you even awake now?" Chris laughed, "It went OK, but I'm not dancing again for a while, I'm already in pain."

"Such a pity," Darren sighed, "Do you think you'll recover by the time I'm back?"

"Maybe. Why are you asking?"

"Well, I would really like to see those moves in person," Darren said breathily, "Especially the ones from  _Single Ladies_."

"A private show? I don't know…" Chris realized he was flirting and it caught him a little by surprise.

"I'll try and convince you, don't worry," Darren's voice sounded sleepy, "I can state my case well, I promise."

"We'll see. Go to sleep, sweetie, you sound tired."

"I love you," Darren whispered, "I'll call you tomorrow evening."

"Love you too. Sweet dreams," Chris finished and hung up, wondering briefly if Darren even heard his words.


	20. Let Me Show You

Chris was wandering around the arrivals part of the airport, glancing at the monitors with flight information every half a minute or so nervously. He'd not told Darren he would come pick him up, but they'd talked about what flight Darren was taking and Chris looked up all the details on his landing time and on a whim decided that he'd drive out. It had been a long week and much as he hated to admit it to himself, he'd grown so attached to Darren that it was barely bearable to be away from him for so long. So he was there now, a small plate with "Mr. Criss" in his hand for the fun of it, playing with his car keys and letting them dig into his hand so he'd not get lost in daydreams.

Finally, the status on Darren's flight changed from "On Time" to "Landed" and Chris tried to calculate in his head how long it would take for Darren to find his suitcase and get to the exit. He moved from the side of the barriers to the front, feeling a little foolish about his plan for a moment, but tried to shrug off the anxiety, stepping forward so that Darren would be able to spot him. A crowd of people rushed out of the exit and Chris took a few glances to notice the New York tags on their luggage, reassuring himself that they were from the same flight. When he lifted his eyes from the suitcases rolling by, he immediately spotted the familiar dark curls behind some more people who luckily veered off to the side, clearing the view.

"Chris!" Darren called out happily the moment his eyes landed on the sign Chris was holding up, "You're here!" he exclaimed after he rushed over, "You… I missed you," he whispered and immediately threw his arms around Chris' shoulders, the suitcase forgotten and falling to the floor.

"Hi," Chris mumbled into Darren's neck, "welcome home."

Darren pulled away, his eyes bright and his hand brushed over Chris' cheek before he stretched out and leaned into a kiss.

"I missed you," Chris whispered in a break from the kiss, "I couldn't wait…"

"I'm glad you didn't," Darren sighed, "I'm… you wouldn't believe how glad I am to see you."

"Maybe I would," Chris laughed, "let's not do this again, OK?"

"Not anytime soon," Darren agreed, "Can we… I don't need to go to my place… can I…"

"I was hoping you'd come to mine for tonight," Chris breathed out, a blush flooding his cheeks.

Darren nodded, dropped one more fleeting kiss on Chris' lips, then picked up the suitcase he'd let go before, his other hand reached for Chris' and he tugged on it softly.

"Come on, let's go home."

Chris stopped in his tracks when Darren said that and pulled him back, eyes wide and mouth open. Then he crashed his lips into Darren's, not even caring to be as careful as he normally tried to be, his tongue immediately sliding into Darren's mouth in a breathless and passionate kiss. Darren's surprise was clear in his face when Chris pulled away.

"I love you," Chris breathed out.

"I love you too," Darren smiled softly, "Is this about the 'home' thing?"

Chris nodded sheepishly and Darren squeezed his hand, "you're home, Chris. And your house is where you are, so… yeah, can we go home now?"

"Yeah," Chris smiled and they headed to find the car, their hands not breaking apart.

Darren started humming along the moment Chris turned the radio on and halfway to Chris' place, they were both singing along every cheesy song that played.

" _You think I'm pretty…_ " Darren grinned when the Katy Perry tune came on, "You know, I talked to the _Glee_ people when they called to say it didn't get renewed," Chris raised an eyebrow with curiosity, "And this was supposed to be my first song on the show."

"Is that why you keep playing it?"

"Yeah, I figured I might as well, since it could've been my big break," Darren hummed instead of trying to keep up.

"Wait, didn't you tell me once that…"

"That your character was in that scene according to the writers' plans then?" Chris nodded and Darren shrugged, "who knows, maybe I would've ended up serenading you."

"Oh boy," Chris chuckled, "I can't think of a scenario where that would've happened."

"Me either, but…" Darren paused and glanced over to Chris, "I did wonder for a while what would've happened with our characters."

"I'd say that would've been a question of our on-screen chemistry," Chris winked.

"Well, I happen to think," Darren moved his hand to Chris' thigh, "that we have plenty of that off any screen."

"Darren Criss," Chris grinned, "are you trying to seduce me?"

"Maaaaybe," Darren's cheeks turned red, "It has been a _long_ week."

"Well, you did have some distractions," Chris smirked.

"I did and you owe me a dance, or two, or…"

"I swear if you say lap dance you're walking from here," Chris shot him a glare, "I am _not_ doing that."

"But what if you just do the Beyonce dance and I stand _really_ close?" Darren said with hope in his voice, "that would be almost the same."

"No."

"Please?"

"I can't see your sad face, I'm driving."

"Pretty please?"

"Shut up."

"Why?"

"Because I can _hear_ your puppy eyes in your voice and…"

"Are you giving in?" Darren grinned, "Are you? Is it working?"

"Not anymore, it's not," Chris laughed.

"Damn."

"Such language, Darren," Chris said after a chuckle.

"You've not heard anything yet, Christopher," Darren's voice dropped lower, "I can tell you things…"

"Like?" the challenge in Chris' tone was obvious.

Before Darren could answer, they were pulling up at Chris' place and he scrambled out of the car quickly, rushing to get his suitcase out of the boot. Chris quirked his eyebrow at Darren's speedy movements, but went along with them, grabbing the small bag Darren had on board and they walked into the house together. Seconds after the door closed behind them, Chris blinked at the position he suddenly found himself in, his back against the wall in the hallway, Darren's body pressed against his.

"I can tell you what I want to do to you," Darren stretched to whisper into Chris' ear, "or what I want you to do to me."

"Fuck," Chris breathed out and earned himself a 'tsk, language, Christopher' from a smirking Darren, "Shut up, you're one to talk."

"Planning to, babe," Darren's smile didn't fade, "want to…"

"Bedroom, please," Chris nodded and kicked his shoes off on the way to the bedroom, not caring that he left them randomly thrown on the floor.

"Can I…?" Darren reached for the buttons on Chris' shirt right after they walked through the bedroom door, both suddenly feeling tense.

Chris nodded and his palms rested on Darren's hips, fingers sliding under the T-shirt that Darren never bothered tucking in. He pushed the fabric higher, revealing the skin above the waistband of Darren's jeans and felt his boyfriend shiver at the touch, the fingers that were fighting with the shirt buttons a little unsteady.

Finally, the shirt was open and Darren pushed it off Chris' shoulders. As Chris' hands were still holding on Darren's sides, the shirt stayed hanging off his elbows and Darren's eyes slid down to it. He let Chris lift his arms and pull of the T-shirt, then watched as Chris shrugged his shirt all the way off and tossed both the garments onto a nearby chair.

"So," Darren gulped, "you owe me a dance, Christopher."

"Do I?" Chris quirked his eyebrow and ran a finger down Darren's chest, "I don't remember promising anything like that."

"Maybe you were drinking more than you know," Darren grinned, "because I think you did promise."

"And what kind of a dance do you think I owe you?" Chris whispered as he leaned into Darren, his lips brushing just below Darren's ear, "Because I think you've seen just enough of my Beyonce routine."

"I…"

"Maybe I could repeat that," Chris smirked, suddenly feeling bolder than usual, surprising himself, "or maybe," he ground his hips into Darren's, "I'll just do this, since there's no music."

"Fuck…"

"Such words out of your mouth, honey," Chris chuckled, "you make me think this is… doing something to you."

"Yes," Darren managed to say, trying to breathe evenly as Chris' leg slid between his thighs and pressed against the centre, "you have no idea…"

"Tell me, then, so I know," Chris challenged.

"Just…" Darren gasped when Chris pushed him slowly backwards to the bed, stopping at the edge, "the way your hips move, even when I saw it just through the camera… _shit, Chris_ ," he gasped when Chris continued moving against him, "I couldn't help but imagine…"

"This?" Chris moved his hips against Darren, the impersonal feeling of learned movements adding confidence he normally didn't have, "did you want to be like this when I was dancing?"

Darren's head rolled back and he nodded wordlessly while biting his lip.

"Next time, when we're out, I might just do that," Chris smirked, "not now, without music."

"I can get music…" Darren started but Chris cut him off with a kiss.

"Another time," he mumbled against Darren's lips, "possibly with some alcohol before I do _that_ dance."

"OK," Darren sighed, "I can wait."

He tried to step back, forgetting that they were standing by the bed, so instead the edge hit the back of his knees and he only just managed to save face by sitting down. Eyebrow rising at the sudden height difference, Darren pulled Chris closer by his thighs and smirked.

"Well this is rather convenient," he laughed when his fingers dug under the waistband of Chris' jeans, "let me help you out of these."

"Darren…" Chris' voice faded as Darren pulled out the belt and opened the button and zipper, sliding the denim off Chris' legs, "what…?"

"Sssh, let me," Darren whispered, his fingers tracing along Chris' skin on his hips and thighs.

Chris' eyes widened the moment he realized what Darren's plan was and he scrambled to reach for something to steady himself, his fingers eventually landing on Darren's shoulders. He tried to not hold on too tight, but when Darren kissed along the muscle lines of Chris' stomach, his grasp tightened.

"Da… _fuck_ , Darren, please," Chris moaned out, desperate to stop the teasing.

"OK... OK…"

Darren's tongue darted out to taste the tip of Chris' cock and his eyes shot up to Chris' face when a gasp echoed through the room. Moments later, the only sound disturbing the silence was Chris' heavy breathing and Darren's content humming. It didn't take too long for Chris to dig his fingers into Darren's shoulders as he felt the vibrations through his whole body and only just held back from thrusting into Darren's mouth.

"Da… Darren, I…"

Darren pulled away only long enough to whisper a hushed and raspy "Let go, Chris, I want you to" then his mouth sunk around Chris' cock again greedily.

Chris let out a string of curse words as he felt his climax rush through him and groaned at the suction when he came down Darren's throat. His knees began to shake and he leaned on Darren more than before.

"Well that was…" he breathed out as Darren slid up on the bed, pulling Chris along, "unexpected," he finished when he landed on top of his boyfriend, a smile on both their faces.

"Pleasant, though, I hope," Darren grinned sheepishly.

"More," Chris brushed his lips over Darren's, barely managing to hold himself up on his arms, "perfect, amazing, fantastic…"

"Good," Darren said simply and then pulled Chris down, their mouths crashing against each other.

Chris tasted himself on Darren's tongue and the sensation made him moan, his recovery time dropping to record levels as he already felt his cock stirring again, though he was still sensitive enough that he had to pull his hips away from Darren's. He abandoned Darren's mouth moments later, licking and biting along the veins on the tanned neck below him.

"Your turn," Chris mumbled into Darren's skin and heard him gasp.

"Please," Darren whispered, shivers running across his body.

They slid up on the bed and Chris shrugged off his jeans completely. It was the first time he was completely naked around Darren and when the thought reached his brain, he immediately felt like covering up. Instead, he shrugged it off as much as he could and reached for Darren's pants to even the score in more ways than one. Moments later he wasn't worrying anymore, his thoughts focused entirely on Darren.


	21. You Spin Me Around

They'd progressed slowly, with everything from getting to know each other on a different level to friendship through discovering the physical side to their relationship all the way to being open about it in public. Neither had to, despite their occasional public appearances, deal with too much backlash, though there were some annoying instances of harassment when they went out and held hands. But nothing was on the level that Chris had known when he was growing up and nothing on the level they'd both seen other people face.

Darren fell into the public displays of affection more naturally, but Chris' walls came down pretty quickly as days and weeks went by. Soon, they faced more than an occasional "get a room" from Ashley, Joey and other friends of theirs and not just inside their homes. One to remember was a nightclub visit that Darren managed to whine his way into, throwing enough sad looks and pleading lines about wanting to see Chris dancing.

"I apologize in advance," Darren blushed before they hit the dance floor.

"For what?" Chris threw him a glance, in between mutters of "Why am I here?"

"I…" Darren gulped and Chris stopped in his tracks at Darren's hesitation, "I can't dance, really. Like, I can move, but…"

"Is that what's got you panicking right now?"

Darren nodded and Chris smiled softly, "It's not like my moves are natural, it's all the rehearsed ones. But if you're  _that_  worried," Darren continued nodding, "just let me lead you. We'll see how that goes."

"OK," Darren answered, not convinced just yet, but let Chris lead him over to a quieter side of the floor, where they wouldn't get bumped into by everyone else.

The place was crowded, but not overly so, just enough to have people not paying attention to anyone they didn't specifically know. Chris was glad for that because some of the moves he'd just decided he would be showing and teaching Darren could potentially rise more than a few eyebrows if there were any eyes on them.

"Come here," he pulled Darren close and heard the quiet gasp as their bodies aligned closely, "it's easier to lead you this way," he offered as explanation.

"Oh, OK," Darren replied and Chris couldn't help but relish in the insecurity, in knowing that this was something  _he_  could teach his boyfriend, "I just…"

"Relax," Chris ran his fingers over Darren's arms, "you're good with music, so this won't be torture."

"Promise?" Darren's eyes sparkled.

"Unless you really are as abysmal as you're trying to imply," Chris laughed, "in which case there is no cure and I will have to abandon you for a better alternative."

Darren's eyes widened in shock, "Wait, is…," he gasped, "is the lack of dancing skill a deal breaker for you?"

"No," Chris dropped his lips to a nearly panicking Darren, "plus, I have seen your hips move, you're not talentless."

"Oh?"

"Seriously, relax," Chris laughed, "it's not a final exam, it's just dancing."

"I'd nearly rather want the finals now," Darren grumbled.

"Let me show you how much you wouldn't want that," Chris smirked, turned Darren so they were facing the same direction and gripped his hips tighter, starting to move them in sync with his own to the rhythm of the song that Darren didn't even realize was playing.

Chris' hips swayed to the music, the movements a little less pronounced than how Darren remembered them. There was a second or two when Darren considered just asking Chris to show off the moves while he watched, but then he felt fingers scraping past the bottom of his T-shirt and dipping under the edge of his jeans. It wasn't an obscene movement, Chris only just traced the inside of the waistline, but it was enough to make Darren lean back, drop his head onto Chris' shoulder behind him and leave his neck exposed.

"Hmmm, you're just giving me ideas here," Chris murmured into Darren's ear and then followed with a kiss on the side of the stretched neck, "put your hands on mine," he continued when his lips moved back up, "you'll feel the movement."

"Please tell me this isn't how  _you_  learned," Darren grumbled.

"Why? Jealous?" Chris laughed.

"Yes," Darren added a nod to emphasize his answer, "I just… don't want to think about it."

"No, I didn't," Chris reassured him, "this is my special lesson for you."

"We could've practiced at home."

"Nowhere near as much fun," there was something darker in Chris' voice that Darren didn't quite recognize, but got an explanation for almost immediately, "here, you can lose yourself in the music, or keep yourself on edge wondering who is watching and what they can see."

"Chris…"

"I'd say as a performer," Chris continued slowly, still moving their hips to the song, "you don't mind being watched, do you?"

"No," Darren breathed out, "I didn't think…"

"…that I might be into that?" Darren nodded and Chris smiled, "I'm not into exhibitionism, but a little controlled danger…"

They didn't say much for the next while, not through the first song, or the second, but the one after was a little faster and Darren was starting to relax into Chris' lead more. He was less concerned about trying to get the moves right or who was there to potentially laugh at him for failing.

"Turn around," Chris' voice veered between gentle and commanding and by then, Darren would've done anything, "you're actually good at this."

"Am I?" Darren was genuinely surprised, "I'm just… moving?"

"That's all there is to it, though," Chris smiled, "but yeah… you're good."

Darren figured there was more to Chris' words than he said out loud but he decided to not nitpick until they were home and didn't have to yell at each other over the music. He wrapped his arms around Chris' shoulders instead and they continued dancing, Darren's movements less insecure.

"I wonder if I should freak you out by dipping you," Chris mused with a laugh, "pity I don't have a rose at hand, it would be more fun with that."

"Do I look like a princess?"

"Honey, you  _really_  don't want me to answer that, do you?" Chris was now full-out giggling, "Or do you?"

"No," Darren sighed, "I can imagine."

"Can we go get a drink?" Chris changed the topic, "It's ridiculously hot in here. And no," he scowled when Darren's lips parted for a remark, "not  _that_  kind of hot. Not yet, anyway."

After a grumble about "no fun", Darren let Chris pull him towards the bar, where he'd asked for some water at first. Darren gulped the bottle down nearly immediately and Chris was distracted for a moment by the sight of drops of sweat on Darren's slightly scruffy neck. He resisted the urge to lean forward and try out the taste, reminding himself that there  _would_  be time later.

"How about tequila?" Darren suddenly asked, "We did discuss body shots before, can we try?"

"Have you never had tequila before or something?" Chris wondered, "You're way too excited about the idea."

"Well, it does imply me licking some part of your body…" a shrug and a playful slap on the arm later, Chris was nodding and Darren immediately leaned against the bar and asked for the shots and everything else they needed.

"How drunk are you trying to get me?" Chris' eyebrow was up, relaying a combination of disapproval of the alcohol and anticipation of things to come.

"Wait… I need to get you drunk? Why wasn't I doing that before?"

"Hilarious, Criss, absolutely hilarious."                                                           

"I'm not trying to get you drunk," Darren smiled, "Though I'd be lying if I said I never thought of it, even before I knew of your history with it."

"Do I need to ask if there were expectations attached to those thoughts?" Chris laughed, "Did you think you could  _seduce_  me if you got me drunk?" he mocked.

"Well, I didn't need to rely on alcohol, did I?" Darren brushed a stray lock off Chris' forehead despite the glare aimed at him for messing with Chris' hair.

"No," Chris acknowledges, "you didn't. So what's with the need for tequila now?"

"Which part of 'I get to lick salt off your skin' is hard to understand?" Darren chuckled and reached for the salt shaker that the bartender just dropped in front of them, "It's not the alcohol, Christopher."

Chris eyed him with continued suspicions that only broke off when Darren leaned in with a whispered "you'll see" and his tongue outlined the path between Chris' collarbone and ear. When the surrounding air hit the dampness, Chris shivered, though he wasn't entirely certain the coolness was the only reason. The salt touched the moistened skin and he found a lemon wedge in his hand the next moment, too distracted by what Darren was doing.

"Hold still," Darren mouthed, looking into Chris' eyes for a moment, then bent down and retraced the same part as before, scooping up the salt with his tongue.

Just when Chris was getting lost in the sensation and forgetting that they were in a public place, Darren pulled away, dipped his head back as he downed the shot and then directed Chris' hand that was holding the lemon towards his parted lips.

"Want to have a go?" Darren asked, almost casually, his eyes still glistening with tears that sprung up when the shot burned down his throat.

"Hmm," there was a sparkle in Chris' eyes, his interest definitely not in the drink, but the creative ways of taking it which he was coming up with, "this boring way? Nah, not really."

"Got better ideas?" Darren asked, already knowing Chris' imagination was flying away with him, "Though I'd suggest ones that we  _can_ actually do in public."

"The one I have is perfectly acceptable in public, thank you very much," Chris bristled, "what do you take me for?"

"My most sincere apologies, kind sir," Darren laughed, "I wouldn't dare sully your reputation with assumptions and rumors."

"Shush," Chris glared, "you talk too much."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Chris leaned in and let his tongue trace Darren's lips at first, tasting the remains of the lemon tang mixed with salt and the very mild burn of alcohol. The combination of the three made his tongue thrust into Darren's mouth hungrily, the kiss turning less public-friendly immediately. He pulled away to the sight of a flushed face and swollen lips, still parted a little and looking inviting. Instead of giving in to the temptation to lean in and continue the kiss, Chris felt his way to a lemon wedge on the counter and brought it to Darren's mouth, gently pressing it between the full lips.

"Hold still," he whispered just loud enough over the music so Darren could hear, then circled around until his chest was against Darren's back.

Chris' tongue darted to the birthmark below the shoulder, pushing the T-shirt down a little so it was completely revealed. He continued up in a swirl just below Darren's hairline, then across the neck towards his ear and felt the skin below his tongue vibrate with the shivers his movements caused. Salt grains fell on the dampened skin then and Chris grasped a shot glass of the bar, reminding himself to not squeeze it too hard or tilt his hand, then he licked his way back to the birthmark spot along the salty path he'd just created. The shot went down quickly and burned its way down his mouth and throat when he slid around Darren to face him and pressed their lips together, licking on and around the lemon wedge.

" _Fuck_ ," escaped Darren's mouth when the lemon skin fell out after Chris pulled away, "How was this public appropriate? I…"

"Yeah," Chris nodded, "I'm starting to see the appeal of this," he winked.

"Starting to?" Darren exclaimed, "I'm tempted to only ever drink tequila with you if this is what happens," he groaned and pulled Chris' hips to his, rutting his unmistakable hard on into Chris'.

"Behave, honey," Chris grinned and brought his mouth down to Darren's shoulder, peppering gentle kisses along the collarbone, feeling the vibrations of the music and of Darren's shivers under the skin.

"One more?" Darren asked, trying to not give away his want for a repeat.

A nod later and Darren's hand was brought up to Chris' mouth, a trail of saliva covered with salt across his palm and a new piece of lemon placed between his lips. It wasn't any less a turn on to watch Chris lick Darren's hand from the wrist all the way to the fingertips and Darren moaned at the memory of Chris doing the same without the salt and with both of their hands before they'd reached down for each other's cocks a few nights earlier.

"If we'd done this at home," Chris mumbled into Darren's ear when they both recovered their breathing somewhat, "I'd have you lying on the couch, T-shirt off, and I'd lick along here," his fingers traced the edge of Darren's increasingly tight jeans, "leave the drink here," he dipped a finger into Darren's bellybutton, "the cliché way."

"Shit!" Darren let his forehead fall onto Chris' shoulder, then lifted it back up and stared into Chris' eyes, lust darkening the usually soft hazel, "want to bring this home then?"

"You have one shot left, Darren," Chris smirked cheekily, "Let's see if you can convince me."

Darren thought for a moment, then reached for the salt shaker and lemon wedge and opened a button on Chris' shirt, pushing it out of the way a little. The salt trail started just below Chris' collarbone and went up his neck and along his jaw and ear, the lemon was held up by Chris' pointer and middle finger. Darren's tongue was slowly sliding along Chris' skin, then his head dipped back with the shot glass between his lips and when he leaned in for the tang of lemon Chris' eyes were watching him with a dark expression. There was a moment of 'is this convincing enough?' in Darren's face before he pushed the drained lemon from Chris' fingers and took them in his mouth, licking off the remnants of the sour taste.

"Yeah, we can…" Chris groaned, "We can take this home now…"

"I…" Darren's blush extended across his cheeks, "Give me a moment, OK?"

Chris grinned devilishly and instead of allowing Darren to calm down, he linked their hands and pulled a barely resisting Darren towards the dance floor. The warmth of the alcohol was accompanied with a buzz across his body as he pulled Darren close, their legs slotted together as they began to move to the slow song that neither of them was really paying attention to.

"Chris," Darren breathed into his boyfriend's ear when he felt the hips pressing against him, the movement not overly obvious to people around them, but just enough to make him want to throw Chris against the nearest wall, "Please…"

"Please what?" Chris felt braver and flirtier than usual, "what do you want me to do?" he asked and let his fingers slide into the back pockets of Darren's jeans, making the distance between them completely disappear.

"Home… Can we just…"

Finally, Chris gave in to Darren's silent pleading and once they both took a few calming breaths, he led Darren out to the nearest cab and gave the driver his address, not wanting to navigate the likely housemate-filled space of Darren's house.

Their hands were everywhere that night, but neither of them thought it was a good idea to go too far while the tequila was still directing their moves and diminished their inhibitions. Both determined to go slow and not mess up things by giving themselves the possibility of regrets in the morning, they still allowed for more than just kisses.

"I believe I promised you something," Chris smirked as he pushed Darren backwards onto the couch, "and I tend to keep my promises."

Darren looked at him in confusion for a moment, his mind foggy and distracted thanks to the making out in the back of the cab, but he soon realized what Chris was talking about. It helped that he'd suddenly found himself on the couch and his T-shirt was being pushed out of the way to reveal his stomach.

"Fuck," he groaned when he noticed the small bottle of tequila in Chris' hand, "Wait, when did you… how did you…?"

"I have means and ways," Chris laughed, "And apparently my powers of persuasion extend to getting drinks out of night club stockrooms."

"You… Did you  _steal_  that?" Darren's eyes widened.

"Of course not," Chris scoffed, "I asked… well, begged really."

"What was the selling point?"

"The description of me doing what I'm about to do," Chris' eyes crinkled with laughter, "I'm not sure about us going back to that club, though, the bartender was a little too interested in a detailed description of your abs."

"What abs?"

"Exactly, sweetie," Chris continued laughing when he saw Darren's mock-hurt expression, "we can't have you ruining the illusion."

"So… back to the topic at hand, what were you going to do?"

"Let me show you," Chris moved Darren so he was lying completely flat on the couch and walked out of the room with a quick but firm, "don't move."

When he came back a few excruciatingly long minutes later, he was carrying a small plate with lemon wedges in one hand and a salt shaker in the other. Darren's eyes followed him from across the room and Chris laughed softly at the obviously failing attempt to not move at all.

"I wasn't going to punish you if you moved," he chuckled, then his eyes darkened, "unless…"

"Oh  _fuck_ ," Darren caught on to that train of thought immediately, "that is so a conversation for another time."

Chris nodded and hummed to himself as he placed the plate on the coffee table and unscrewed the top of the bottle. Darren shivered when a lemon was balanced on his bellybutton and groaned when Chris sank to his knees next to the bed, on level with Darren's waist. Then he trailed his tongue along the waistband of Darren's jeans, sprinkling the salt over the dampness. He locked eyes with Darren for a second before he bent down again and licked the salt off slowly, his gaze on Darren's face until Darren's head rolled back just as his hips moved up a fraction. Chris held him steady while he brought the bottle to his lips and gulped down a generous amount then picked the lemon wedge off Darren's bellybutton.

"Yeah, I…" Darren gasped for air, "I'm really glad we didn't do that in the club."

"Me too," Chris replied and put the bottle down before he leaned over Darren for a kiss.

"Should I return the favor?"

"Hmm, if you want to get more drunk," Chris shrugged, feeling the buzz of the tequila circulate in his veins, "I'm done for now anyway, unless you're in the mood for a History Channel special on UK Royalty."

"What?" the confusion was clear in Darren's voice.

"Oh, bad habit," Chris explained, "I've been told, repeatedly, that tequila makes me go off on epic long speeches about the royal family and how I am in line for the throne if several people die. Considering one of those people is Harry, I tend to  _not_  let myself go there."

"Got a thing for red hair I should be aware of?"

"Not at the moment," Chris ran his fingers through Darren's curls, "dark, unruly and curly seems to be  _my thing_  these days," he finished and pulled as his hand got stuck on a tangle.

"Oh," a soft moan escaped Darren's lips at the pull and Chris' eyes widened a little.

"Is the hair  _a thing_  for you?"

"It wasn't…" another moan followed as Chris repeated the motion, this time deliberately, "apparently you're discovering things I wasn't even aware of."

"Good to know," Chris smiled devilishly and climbed on the sofa, hovering over Darren, knees on either side of his waist, "should I figure out what else you didn't know about?"

They managed to keep their clothes on until they were too tired to keep their hands moving, but discovered plenty of new details about each other nevertheless. Darren's groan at Chris' nails across his chest echoed across the room, nearly matching Chris' cursing when Darren dug his fingers into Chris' ass, pulling him closer and scraping along his thighs. There was the mutual rediscovery of just _how_  sensitive their necks were and Chris knew he'd need to either hide from Ashley or wear a scarf  _and_  hide from Ashley so he wouldn't face too many vampire jokes. Not that Darren's skin was much better, but Chris did bruise a little easier.

When Darren's yawns became a little too frequent and Chris could barely keep his eyes open, they moved to Chris' bedroom, threw jeans across the room into a corner and curled up under the covers, kissing softly until they both fell asleep.


	22. Aftershocks

Darren woke up to what should have been a pounding headache but was only a soft throbbing in his temples, because there was a gentle scraping against the skin on his shoulders that was distracting him from the pain. He tried to pry his eyes open but when the tiniest hint of light caused him to cringe he kept the eyelids down, rolled over to bury his head into a pillow and grumbled into the softness. It was the vaguely familiar smell and the continued touch of fingers against his skin that brought him to reality and out of his sleepy haze.

"Hey," the whisper was only just bearable and he managed to open his eyes a sliver to peek at Chris, "water?"

"Uh-huh," Darren didn't dare to nod just yet, "please."

"You'll need to sit up," Chris said gently and Darren was suddenly insanely jealous.

"How are you not dying?" he grumbled when he wrapped his fingers around the cool bottle before taking a sip.

"I already had some painkillers and they're kicking in," the explanation didn't make Darren feel any better.

"Have you been watching me sleep?"

"Waiting for you to wake up, actually," Chris grinned, "but I guess you're no good for the plans I had."

A grumble and a glare in Chris' direction were all that Darren could manage, but he mumbled a grateful 'thank you' when he felt the painkillers bring dropped into his hand.

"Later," he spoke quietly, his head still throbbing, "how much did we drink last night?"

"I don't know," Chris shrugged, "I didn't go down to check the damage. Enough, though."

"I'm never ever drinking again," Darren sighed dramatically.

Chris chuckled at that, "Of course not. Until Joey drags you out for a 'boys' night' or some other completely irrelevant reason."

"Big words," Darren sank deeper into the pillows and pulled the covers over his face, "you're unbelievable."

"Because I'm coherent after a night of drinking?"

Darren nodded cautiously, "I just want to curl up in a corner and sleep."

"You can," Chris replied, "or we can go to the kitchen and get some breakfast?"

Darren grunted in half-agreement, but didn't make any effort at all to move, "I need the painkillers to kick in before I go anywhere," he grumbled instead.

"I'll go down and make something, OK?" Chris whispered as he leaned over to kiss Darren's forehead, "I'll come get you in a while."

"I love you," Darren sighed, eyes firmly shut.

"Love you too," Chris replied and slid out of bed, careful not to jostle it too much.

A little while later, Darren felt the throbbing ease off and shuffled from under the covers, looking around the room for the T-shirt from the previous night. Instead, he found one of Chris' tops laid out on the other side of the bed along with a pair of sweatpants, so he pulled them on before he patted to the kitchen, following the enticing smell of food.

"Hello sunshine," Chris greeted him cheerfully and put a plate on the table, "get some sustenance."

"Again with the big words, Christopher," Darren grumbled, "you're way too chipper for someone who should be epically hungover."

"I woke up with a cute boy in my bed," Chris laughed, "I'm having a pretty good morning."

They ate in silence and eventually Darren stopped feeling like he was hit by a truck, the food and painkillers doing the expected job. He listened to Chris humming with content and couldn't help the giddy grin that was spreading over his face.

"So, I was thinking," Darren broke the silence.

"Always a dangerous opening line," Chris laughed, "OK, sorry, sorry," he held his hands up with Darren shot him a glare, "what were you thinking, dear?"

"We should go on vacation," Darren said simply, waiting for Chris' reaction.

"I'm not going to Disneyland with you," Chris shot, then chuckled at Darren's pout, "OK, maybe one day, but I'm guessing that's not what you had in mind."

"No, actually, you're right," Darren nodded, "but we'll definitely do Disneyland one day."

"What  _did_  you have in mind then?"

"Can you get a week off in your schedule?"

"I'm sure I can manage," Chris ran through the events he knew off in his mind, "I can write anywhere and there's no other schedule right now."

"I think," Darren hesitated for a brief moment, "that we should go back to where we started."

"Well, that would be a little lonely, you in San Fran and me in Clovis," Chris teased, understanding where Darren was heading with the thought.

"Funny," the mock annoyance in Darren's tone wasn't too convincing, "I meant Dublin."

"That's," Chris paused, his eyes locking with Darren's, "actually a really good idea. I'd love to visit again."

They immediately started talking about places they'd originally visited alone but wanted to show each other and by the time it came to lunch, a plan was firmly in place. Chris later brought out his laptop and they booked the plane and hotel, eager to set out for what they extended to a two weeks long trip.

 

"Was it this cold the last time?" Chris shivered when they got out of the plane, wrapping his jacket tighter around his waist, "I don't remember it being this cold."

"It was," Darren laughed, "I can't believe it isn't one of the things you remember. You're such a California boy."

"You should be too," Chris glared, "it's not like you're Alaskan."

"No, but I did spend some winters in Michigan, remember?"

"Snow. Cold. No, thank you."

"Figured," Darren chuckled, "You know, for someone who likes warmth so much, it still puzzles me how much you actually dislike the sun."

"Freckles and sunburn do that to a person," Chris rolled his eyes, "Now, can we get to somewhere warm, please?"

"Yes, babe, but we need to get the luggage first."

"Ugh, true."

"Come on, I promise to warm you up the moment we're at the hotel."

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Chris' eyebrow rose.

"Let me surprise you," Darren laughed, "you know I like doing that."

"Yes, but it usually involves a slightly more elaborate plan than 'let's check into a hotel'," Chris' memory flashed back to one impromptu trip out of town a few weeks earlier, "not that that hasn't happened before."

"You loved that one," Darren challenged, "don't bother telling me you didn't."

"It came with a massage, there was no way I wouldn't love that one."

"I figured that was the selling point," a laugh followed, "still, you should trust me by now that I can get things right."

Chris shrugged in semi-agreement, "I promise not to question your surprises. Not too much, at least."

They collected their suitcases after luckily finding all of them and took a cab to the hotel they had booked for the first few nights. A plan to travel around the country was in place, too, but to get their jet-lag under control, they scheduled a few days in Dublin to recover. Darren followed through on the good surprise that first night and to Chris' delight it did include a massage, though rather than a private one like he secretly hoped, Darren had booked them into the hotel spa.

Relaxed and a little sleepy, Chris stretched out on the bed when he returned after his appointment, planning to wait for Darren to come to the room. His eyelids were heavy though and it was only when he felt soft brushes of fingertips on his skin, he realized that he'd fallen asleep.

"Hi," he muttered sleepily, "I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"It’s OK, you were tired. I sort of guessed it would happen."

"What's the plan now?"

"There's room service on its way," Darren answered, "I hope you don't mind I've ordered for you too."

"I'm actually starved," Chris heard his stomach rumble in agreement, "So no, I don't mind, as long as it's not something insane."

"I don't think we're in the right country for culinary experiments," Darren chuckled, "I went for simple."

There was a knock on the door and Darren got up to open it, then brought in a trolley with various plates and Chris' mouth began watering. He managed to move out of bed and to the table on the other side of the room and they both dug in, their stomachs emptier than they thought. It was only when they were finishing up and Darren started putting the dishes back on the trolley to push it out that Chris realized that neither of them bothered changing into their own clothes and both were still in the robes provided by the hotel. Instead of panicking about it, he got fixated on the way the robe hugged Darren's waist just the right way.

"Hello, beautiful," Darren walked back into the room and smiled at the sight of Chris stretched out on the bed, "mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Chris grinned, "white suits you, by the way."

"What?" there was a flash of confusion in Darren's eyes until he glanced down and noticed the robe, "Thank you?"

"Does it open as easily as mine?"

Chris watched as Darren's eyes widened at the question and the unusually forward implication of it. Then he shrugged and his fingers played around with the tied belt, a smirk slowly making its way to his lips.

"Why don't you find out?" he challenged.

"I just might," Chris sat up and then moved on the bed until he was kneeling at the edge, just in front of Darren.

Their fingers met on the terrycloth strip and Chris pushed Darren's hand away then tugged on the knot until it came undone. The robe opened and hung off Darren's shoulders for a second, but Chris quickly brushed it out of the way. Darren didn't hesitate and pressed against Chris' shoulders as he moved onto the bed, holding himself up on one hand while the other worked Chris' robe open.

"This is nice," Darren whispered when they were both naked and kissing lazily.

"Not quite what I was going for," Chris mumbled into Darren's mouth, "but I'll take 'nice'."

"I haven't even started yet, babe," Darren moved his lips down to Chris' neck, "I'm sure we can work up to something better than 'nice'."

"That sounds like you're taking on a challenge," the laughter got stuck in Chris' throat when Darren licked a trail along the soft skin on Chris' collarbone.

"Maybe I am," Darren's voice was low, "what  _is_  the challenge, though. Is it how fast I can make you moan my name? Or how soon you'll be asking for more?"

"A little bit of both?" Chris' lips turned up in a grin, "It depends on what you're trying to prove."

"Oh, I'm not sure," Darren whispered, leaning into Chris' body without letting it sink down completely, "Do I have anything to prove?"

Chris dug his fingers into Darren's hair and pulled him up for a soft but thorough kiss.

"You've got nothing to prove to me," he muttered when their lips parted, "I love you."

"Love you too," Darren whispered into Chris' ear and kissed a trail down the pale neck.

He felt Chris arch up off the bed and brought his hand to Chris' hip, stilling him with a gentle touch as he continued kissing along the collarbone and shoulders.

"Maybe I'll just show you then," his voice trailed off as his lips became too occupied with kissing every inch of Chris' skin that he moved towards.

With each kiss, Darren was realizing more and more just how deep his love for Chris went, how much he  _needed_  the man he'd fallen for almost the moment they met. What started as teasing and debauchery was turning into a slow declaration of love for him. Chris shot him a questioning look when Darren started punctuating each kiss with a whispered 'I love you', but the surprise or confusion didn't last too long as they both let the emotion of the moment take over.

"I love you," Darren whispered into Chris' mouth with a last kiss as he let his body fall on top of his boyfriend's, both of them still feeling the aftershocks of their orgasm.

"I love you, too," Chris smiled in response, his eyes locked on Darren's as he rode out the overwhelming wave of happiness.


	23. Back to the Start

A few rays of sun snuck their way past the curtains and Chris blinked before he turned away, not ready to face reality yet. Their vacation was nearly over and he had enjoyed it immensely, so the thought of going back home wasn't one he wanted to deal with. He'd love to be back in normal temperatures for sure, but that didn't seem like a fair trade off to being able to spend full days with Darren with no interruptions.

"Hi," Darren's voice was rough from the night before and immediately brought back the memory of the karaoke Darren insisted on, "you're up early."

"Sun in my eyes," Chris grumbled, "never thought I'd complain about that but I guess I got used to the rain and lack of sunshine."

"What's wrong?" Darren got straight to the point, sensing that Chris wasn't in the best mood.

"How do you do that?" Chris rolled his eyes.

"I know you, babe," fingers brushed softly along the skin on Chris' shoulder as Darren spoke quietly, "you're in a bad mood. Is it because we're leaving tomorrow?"

Chris nodded miserably, "I sort of wish we could stay, I like it here."

"It's cold, you'll be glad to be back in LA fast," Darren laughed, "OK, come on," he jumped out of bed and held his hand out to Chris, "breakfast and then a surprise."

"You should save some of those for birthdays and stuff," Chris chuckled but followed Darren into the bathroom.

Just before lunch, after a generous breakfast and a walk around the city that included a peek into the bookshop Chris had his signing in that first day they went out, Darren pulled Chris into a familiar pub.

"Wait, is this…?"

"Where we met," Darren nodded, "Look at the board."

Chris glanced over and his eyes widened when he saw a familiar name written in pale blue chalk. It seemed that on their last night, the gig played in the pub would be an event.

"I can't believe Damian is playing _here_ and tonight of all days," Chris exclaimed, his eyes still fixed on the gig list.

"Want to come and see him play?" Darren asked, "That sort of was the surprise, but apparently waiting isn't in my brain's options today."

"Of course," Chris nodded vigorously, "does he know we're around? Is that where you snuck off yesterday afternoon?"

"No, he doesn't know and yes, I was looking online at first, saw his name and had to check if we're lucky and get to see him," Darren admitted, "turns out we are conveniently in Dublin at the right time."

They walked back to the hotel, had a quick lunch and decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk around the city. When the time of the show approached, they headed towards the pub and Chris reminisced how the last time he'd been in Dublin had been so organized. Despite the week he insisted on before his book tour, the two he spent just roaming around with Darren felt way more relaxed.

"Well, well, well," they were greeted at the door of the pub, "look what the Boeing has dragged in."

"Hey Damian," Darren threw his arms around their old friend immediately, "So good to see you!"

"Same, lads," Damian laughed and looked down to their already linked hands, "I see you've things to share too."

Chris blushed immediately and ducked his head into Darren's shoulder, unable to hide the growing grin. Darren shrugged and squeezed Chris' hand gently, "yeah, this," he smiled, "things… happened."

"I could've told you that the first night," Damian remarked, "you were anything but subtle."

"So, care to share more about this music thing _you_ have got going?" Darren decided to change the topic.

Damian launched into an explanation of the recording studio he started in his hometown and his EP that was the reason for the gigs he was playing around the country.

"You've fantastic timing, actually," he laughed, "It's my last night tonight."

"That's bringing back memories," Chris smiled, "are you going to do the entrance like I remember this one doing?"

"Nah, the current bartender has nowhere near the sense of humor."

"Such modesty," Darren smirked, "OK, OK, I'm shutting up now," he laughed at Chris' glance.

"You're definitely not one to talk, after the in person introduction I got."

The men laughed as they walked into the pub, Chris zoning in on the spot he'd had on the night he met Darren. It was conveniently empty and Damian explained that he usually tried to reserve it for whomever he knew was coming to see him.

"Go ahead, there's no one else tonight I need to hold those seats for," he waved them over, "plus, you two can go on a trip down memory lane."

"I'd rather not remember the level of embarrassment, thank you," Chris grumbled, "I'm surprised either of you even talked to me after that evening."

"Aw, I thought you were adorable," Darren cooed.

"You would," Chris shot back.

"Jeez, you two are like an old married couple, aren't you?" Damian chuckled all through their exchange and unlike Chris he didn't miss the way Darren froze momentarily at the 'married' remark. A silent exchange followed and Damian's eyes lit up as an idea struck him.

"Listen, I know you didn't come to play," he turned to Darren, "but would you join me for a song or two? I'm doing some of the trad ones you used to play. Do you still remember them?"

"Chords, I will remember, words are a different thing," Darren frowned a little, "but as long as you know those, I'm good. I'd love to, actually."

"Cool, let me run over for the set list," Damian disappeared in the thickening crowd.

A moment later, Chris was sipping on his drink and watching Darren and Damian animatedly discussing the set list for the evening and trying to figure out where Darren would jump in for a song or two. He couldn't help the smile on his face as the moment felt so familiar and yet completely new.

"OK, we're done and Damian's about to hop on stage," Darren turned around to Chris, "you don't mind me abandoning you for a little while later, do you?"

"Like I would deprive you of a guitar and the stage," Chris chuckled, "that would be like taking a favorite toy, and I'm not that cruel."

"Debatable," Darren smirked, "you're wearing _those_ jeans in public where I have to even eye-fuck you discreetly."

"Darren!" Chris looked at him with a disapproving look, "I'd shut up if I were you or you're going to land yourself on the couch tonight."

"Well, as long as you are there with me…"

Chris' glare made it clear that would definitely _not_ be the case and Darren held his hands up in defense, muttering something about how he couldn't be held responsible for his words or actions when Chris was looking almost illegally attractive.

"Behave," Chris chided playfully, "or you'll be having a _hard_ time on that stage."

"Christopher!" Darren's eyes widened and he shifted on his chair, "Stop teasing!"

"Me?" Chris looked the picture of innocence until he grabbed the straw from his drink and swirled his tongue around it, his eyes locked on Darren's.

"OK, that's it, I'm going to sit over with Damian," Darren's groaned, "I'll be there until I'm done on stage. I cannot take you anywhere," he glared at his boyfriend, "Oh no, do _not_ say it. Don't. I know you're thinking it."

"Just what do you think I'm thinking, honey?"

"I _will_ take you to bed, Christopher," Darren whispered into Chris' ear after he leaned closer so no one could overhear, "I'll also use the tie you got me, wrap it around your wrists and the headboard and then tease you slowly until you're out of your mind."

Chris nearly choked on his drink, his eyes darkened, his tongue darted out over his lips and he felt his mouth go dry.

" _Fuck_ , Darren…"

"It's not fair, is it? Do you see now what you're doing to me?" Darren continued whispering then let out a cuss, "and I so didn't help myself with that image either."

"Serves you right," Chris chuckled, "we will be getting back to that thought. Now is not the time, though."

They hadn't noticed that Damien was already up on stage, luckily not expecting Darren for a few songs. Chris shook off the tempting images in his mind, though he did file the idea for future discussion.

"I have a special guest here tonight," Damian said before the song they'd planned with Darren, "he thinks he can show up out of nowhere, _not_ bring the California sunshine with him and assume he can just laze about by the bar when I have a perfectly decent guitar here waiting to be played."

The crowd chuckled, and looked around, wondering who Damian was talking about.

"Come here, you," he waved Darren over and a few of the people cheered, "So some of you do remember him from his brief layover here? Good, for those who don't, this is Darren Criss and he played here a while ago, butchering our trad music when we weren't looking."

"Hey, you're the one who used to ask for _Galway Girl_!" Darren protested to the audience's amusement.

"That's because all you Americans try and fail at it," Damian teased, "and I see the 'but I'm part Irish' on your face, trust me, you don't want to go there. At least pretty boy over there has a famous namesake, he gets some green points."

"Now, I know you don't mean that, Damian," Darren laughed, "you know I love me a bit of Irish."

"Don't make me say it," Damian was laughing loud, "let's just sing a song, alright?"

"Fine, since you insist."

Darren's stool got a kick strong enough to make him wobble and Chris worried for a split second, but Darren recovered quickly and caught up with Damian's strumming, their guitars harmonizing effortlessly.

"Thanks, Darren," Damian said a few songs later, "now, I'd let you serenade your boy, but I think he's looking awful lonely over there, go, before someone snags him."

Chris blushed at the comment, but only averted his eyes for a moment, then looked back up to the two men on stage, embracing and promising to keep in touch. He knew they weren't leaving yet, so he made no effort to rush through his drink and waited for Darren to make his way back to the bar.

"You guys were good," Chris acknowledged, "you should figure out a way to do something together."

"We might," Darren nodded, "I tried to talk him into venturing to the States for a while, even just for a visit."

"That would be cool."

"Hey, want to come out for a minute?" Darren shuffled his feet and suddenly looked nervous.

"What's wrong?" Chris' face instantly showed worry, but Darren's smile calmed him down somewhat.

"Nothing, I promise. I just want to get some fresh air and a bit of quiet," Darren explained, a little unconvincingly.

"I'll bite," Chris shrugged, "at least I'll know what's got you on edge."

They stepped out the front door and Darren took a few steps away from it, reaching for Chris' hand to pull him along. When they rounded a corner just past the pub, he leaned up to put his lips against Chris' and followed the kiss with a deep sigh.

"OK, please don't jump to conclusions, but…"

"And that's the best way to make me worry," Chris rolled his eyes.

"Shush," Darren put a finger over Chris' lips, "I just… look… this is _not_ what it may seem to be. I mean, it can be, but that wasn't my intention. I saw it and I thought of you," he pulled out a small box from a pocket on his jacket and watched Chris' eyes widen, "it's…"

He handed the box over and Chris cautiously opened it to discover a leather wrist strap with a round token with an angel on it.

"Darren…" Chris smiled, "it's beautiful. Put it on for me?"

"Wow," Darren stated when he tightened the clasp, "it looks really cool on you. That's not what the rambling was about, though. There's more."

Chris dug into the box again and gasped when a ring slid into his hand.

"As I said, it's not… I'm not asking…" Darren groaned, "I'm not doing well here, am I?"

"Sssh," Chris put a finger against Darren's lips, "I can't believe this," he dug into his pocket, "I've had this for weeks and I figured I'd wait for when we're here, because it seemed fitting, seeing as it's Irish silver," he handed a small pouch to Darren and watched as a light glinted off the surface, "it's not… it's not a contract, it’s not _the_ question, think of it as a promise."

"You…" Darren gulped as he looked at the ring in his hand, "that was what I was going to say."

"Great minds think alike," Chris chuckled, "I love this," he rubbed a finger over the ring in his hand, "do the honors?"

Darren's hand shook a little as he slid the ring on Chris' finger and then held out his hand for Chris to return the favor.

"It's a promise," Darren whispered, "a promise of one day."

"And all the days after," Chris finished and their lips met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN: whoa okay. First of all, it's strange to, after all the months I've been working on this fic, not have a link to the next chapter at the end. Second: this fic is my baby, almost literally because it's been 9 months since NaNoWriMo started and I put the first few words into a word doc (and multiple Post-Its and notebook pages). My thanks go to everyone who helped along (aka yes, it does take a village):[Jude](judearaya.tumblr.com) and [Lynne](lsklainegleek.tumblr.com) during the month that the rough draft got me my NaNoWriMo badge to begin with. [Daph](averycrisscolferstory.tumblr.com) and [Em](landofcolferandcriss.tumblr.com) for Beta and test reading, [Christina](christinarn13.tumblr.com) for being my never-stopping cheerleader. Seriosly, ladies, this fic wouldn't have happened without you. And a quiet thank you to Chris and Darren for giving me the inspiration ;) **
> 
> **And finally, those of you who read the fic, all of you who left me comments, reviews, tags on reblogs, tweets, anything that let me know it's worth to keep posting and writing, THANK YOU <3 **


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